In Need of Repair
by Digitize27
Summary: Two to the head, but one gets up; where she goes depends on the machinations of a broken world, her own penchant for trouble and an ungodly streak of luck.
1. Well, I'm not dead

**I do not own anything related to the Fallout franchise, those come under the heading of Bethesda Softworks and Zenimax Media (thankfully).  
**

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 _"_ _Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards._ _"_ – Aldous Huxley

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' _Urrghh_ _,_ _my head. What hit me?"_ Ruby groaned pitifully for a moment, refusing to open her eyes in case the light brought on any worse pain that her already head-splitting migraine. _'Oh that's right... a bullet.'_ Ignoring for the moment how she could have possibly survived a bullet at point blank, the girl took a moment to just allow the pounding in her head to die down. Once it did she tried to take stock of the situation as best she could while keeping her eyes firmly closed. _'Relatively soft bed, thin covers..._ _W_ _ell I'm not in a grave somewhere so that's a start. They seem dry so it's probably not a raider camp.'_ There was a soft breeze rolling across her prone form but without the irritating sand that accompanied it in the desert so she figured she was inside.

"Well look at that, didn't expect to see you up for a few more days, though I suppose you're the type that just exceeds expectations now ain't ya?" Hesitantly Ruby cracked her eyes open, immediately regretting it as her retinas felt like they had taken a direct hit from a laser rifle. After another few moments of simply allowing her obviously weak and wholly unaccustomed eyes to adjust to the light, Ruby was able to make out the vague blur of a man sitting beside her.

"Whe-" She had meant to ask where she was but all that emerged from her parched throat was a raspy cough that the man immediately tended to by rising and walking away. Ruby took the opportunity to continue trying to make out more than vague blurs of the room around her. By the time he came back she had just enough of her eyesight return to see he was holding a somewhat clean glass of water out to her. Her natural reaction was to lean up and take it but her body violently rejected that line of action. As soon as she tried to raise herself up even moderately her head felt like it was being repeatedly stabbed by a rusty knife.

"Woah there, I just pulled far too much lead outta your noggin to be healthy, don't be too hasty now." Ruby just gently leant back before nodding her head, just about the only thing she found she could do that didn't result in damn-near crippling pain. However when the thankfully cool glass was pressed up against her lips she managed to drink greedily from it, uncaring that quite a bit dribbled down her chin in an un-ladylike manner. She was sure if her mother could see her now she would have her ear in a vice-like hold in no time.

"Here you go, this should help." She could vaguely feel a small needle being inserted into her arm but she just found she couldn't care less as the pain suddenly melted away, dying down to an only slightly uncomfortable throb. She released a greatly satisfied sigh before turning her head, pleasantly surprised to find her vision had returned to her completely. "Now I bet that feels a whole lot better, am I right?" The girl simply nodded, a small smile starting to form on her face without her meaning to. "Now I need to just make a few checks to see if all your mental faculties are still there, we'll start off with something easy; how about your name?"

"Ruby." The girl's smile widened at the sound of her own voice; it was still a little hoarse but being able to talk was definitely a good sign. The older, balding man before her gave a mirroring grin.

"That's a pretty name, I can see where you get it from." The man gave her a once over before nodding, seemingly satisfied. "Well Ruby, you can call me Doc Mitchell, or just Doc if ya like. I think that's enough for today, that Med-X should be kicking in pretty soon and knock you out for a while, when you wake up again I'll run through a few more tests, just to see if you're really back up to scratch, or if you even know what scratch is anymore." Ruby wanted to nod, but her head suddenly weighed too much; the pounding headache had subsided and the bed felt warm and inviting.

Doc Mitchell leaned back as the young girl drifted off back to sleep, luckily she seemed less troubled this time and her face wasn't scrunched up in pain. She had been in a right state when Victor had practically dragged her into his office, caked in earth and mud and just barely breathing, although it was fairly touch and go for a while. He shook his head, wondering what the poor girl could have done to get her into such a situation; the wastes really weren't the most forgiving place.

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True to his word, when the next day came around and Ruby woke up she was subjected to a flurry of medical tests to affirm that she was indeed healthy. She found she had full mobility, a blessing considering her line of work as a courier, and didn't actually seem any worse off for her very, very close shave with death. The doc had tried to explain it to her but she had never been very good with biology; something about 'a lot of the brain being redundant' and 'the bullet only entering one hemisphere'. She didn't get the technical terms, but she was alive so it didn't matter all that much.

"Well that's about all I can do for you." The Doc said in his accented drawl. The two were currently sat in Mitchell's sitting room, Ruby on the couch and him on the armchair opposite. "Stitching people up is what I'm good at but in the end whether or not you think any of your marbles may have fallen out is up to you." Ruby just nodded before looking down in thought for a moment.

"Do you have anything electronic or mechanical I could borrow for just a moment?" Ruby's voice had cleared up overnight, allowing her slight Californian accent to peek through. The Doc just raised an eyebrow before getting up slowly, joints creaking like an un-oiled spring. After a moment of hearing him root around, the sounds of clutter being moved this way and that sounding through the small house Ruby now knew intimately, he returned. In his hand he loosely held an old AEP7 Laser pistol, not looking all that pleased to be carrying it.

"You mean something like this?" Ruby just nodded as she caught the small energy weapon, handling it with extreme care; she knew it was slightly irrational to be wary of guns, especially in the wasteland, but it was more of an ingrained thing. She frowned at the little hand held laser pistol before shrugging; it wasn't ideal but it would do.

"Thanks."

Doc Mitchell spent the next few minutes watching in rapt awe as Ruby systematically disassembled the device, laying each component out carefully on the table in front of her. After running a scrutinising eye over everything she nodded once before re-building the device just as quickly. The doctor was quietly amazed as the gun was handed back to him, somehow looking cleaner than before. Experimentally he aimed the little gun, choosing one of the more burnt books on his shelf before pulling the trigger.

"Wow." To his continued amazement the book simply disintegrated; it seemed that whatever Ruby had done had increased the power-output of the weapon. Not only that but she seemed to have somehow increased its accuracy; Mitchell had carried the laser pistol for quite a while and always knew it shot slightly askew. "What did you do to it?" Ruby just beamed, being praised for her repair-works never grew old.

"Most energy weapons were massed produced during the resource wars so naturally companies made them ideal for quick and easy creation. If you just go delving around in them you can find a whole lot of things to tweak, like for instance I just ramped up the power-output of the energy cells by another twenty five percent." Mitchell just stared at the gun appraisingly; amazed at how simply the girl had improved it.

"Doesn't that damage it more though?" Ruby shook her head, taking the gun out of his hands and taking out the energy cell unit from the side before holding it up.

"Actually a lot of weapons like these have something called a 'factory setting'. It's supposed to maximise the output while not putting the more delicate equipment at risk of overheating. In actuality though these settings were under that value so it was less draining on the cells, even though the power units themselves still had energy to spare. You wouldn't be able to recycle them afterwards but it gives the gun more kick." The doctor just nodded, feeling somewhat strange getting a lesson in weaponry from a girl less than half his age.

"What about the accuracy?" Ruby beamed at that, inserting the energy cell back into place inside the gun before putting it down on the table.

"Oh good, you noticed!" The doctor nodded, finding it odd how enthusiastic the young girl was over this; he would estimate her at being no older than twenty, and probably closer to eighteen. "Yeah well, the thing is the AER7 was supposed to be the cheaper alternative to the standard issue Wattz one thousand. It was essentially the same gun but with cheaper materials better for mass production. Unfortunately the development was slightly rushed with the invasion of Alaska. The gun was supposed to have a laser-sight and was built and designed with that in mind so when production was sped up and it ended up with a normal iron-sight, the accuracy problem never got fixed. It caused a whole bunch of controversy at the time." Again the Doctor could only blink in surprise at the almost text-book knowledge the girl displayed.

"And how, rightly, do you know all this?" Ruby suddenly realised that she had been rambling again, something that she found happened a lot when she started talking about machinery. She chuckled sheepishly as she scratched the side of her head, her eyes straying from Mitchell's gaze.

"I uh, I read a lot of technical manuals growing up, sometimes they would have cool little footnotes written in. My dad would also make me read newspapers from before the war; he always told me that knowledge was the most important thing we could take from history's mistakes." Her shoulders slumped slightly as an almost childish pout appeared on her face. "Most of the time though it was just boring propaganda bits or information on the various businesses that were affected by the war." Mitchell raised an eyebrow at that, wondering just where Ruby was from if she had access to both technical manuals for advanced weaponry as well as in-tact newspapers... as a child.

"I reckon your dad had the right idea." Ruby just shrugged non-commitally as her eyes drifted around the room. Mitchell was quickly coming to understand that when talking about anything other than technology her attention span was about as short as a Bloatfly's. "Well in either case you seem to be just fine in the head, enough to school an old doc like me anyway. Why don't you go wash up and when you come out I'll have a surprise for you." It was like talking to a child; as soon as he mentioned a surprise Ruby was on her feet and excitedly heading towards the Doc's bathroom.

The face she saw in the old, cracked mirror was certainly a sight for sore eyes; she was a little grimy and her hair looked like it could use a good soak but it was definitely the Ruby she remembered. She gave a sly grin and the doppelganger in the mirror copied her. She was a pretty modest person and wouldn't be the first to say she was beautiful but, with her slim build, long red hair and pale, but freckled face, she would at least call herself cute. It helped that she had a more than modest bust that currently strained against the dusty grey vest she was wearing.

She quickly cleaned her face up with a nearby cloth, sighing as the cool waters cleansed her skin. It took her a while longer to clean her hair before tying it back into the long, loose pony-tail she always wore it in. Finally she stripped down and cleaned off the rest of her body, feeling as though she was shedding a great weight as the dust and grime was wiped from her skin. There was a knock at the door that made her nearly shriek in surprise, dropping the wet cloth into the sink.

"Here, I know it might not quite fit but I ain't really stocked with female clothing." The door opened a crack but before Ruby could protest a set of folded clothes was placed on the side and the door was promptly closed again. After a few moments spent drying herself off, another long-awaited and greatly appreciated task, Ruby finally felt clean enough to walk over and check the clothes. She almost burst out laughing when she picked up the dull blue jumpsuit, complete with yellow borders and a dull, metal belt.

A grin lit up her face as she pulled the familiar clothing on; it was a little tight in the chest and long in the legs and arms. That was quickly fixed though as she rolled up the sleeves until they were past her elbows and pulled the zip down on the front until she was showing a fair amount of cleavage; it wasn't enough to be immodest, though her mother would still probably pitch a fit. She completed the look by buckling up the utility belt and pulling on a pair of red high-top sneakers.

She felt nostalgic just wearing the clothing and although the large yellow '21' emblazoned on the back was different, it was like the last five years might as well not have happened. She emerged from the bathroom with that same melancholic grin, something immediately noticed by the Doc, who just happened to be standing right outside.

"I see the clothes fit okay; my wife was a bit taller than you but you seem to fill them out just fine. You didn't have any trouble with them did you? I know there a bit different to what people normally wear out there."

Ruby just chuckled as she looked down at herself, the old familiar blue staring right back at her. "Yeah well, it's kind of hard to when you grow up wearing the things, no matter how hard I try to forget." At that Doc Mitchell's eyebrow made a desperate escape attempt into his non-existent hairline.

"You were born in a vault?"

Ruby just nodded with her trademark grin, seeming proud and annoyed by the fact at the same time. "Yeah, Vault Fifty Three, born and raised."

The doctor just shook his head while chuckling; at this point he shouldn't have been surprised yet this girl continued to amaze. "Well then I suppose you should be pretty familiar with one of these then?" With that the man moved his hand, pulling out a small but bulky device that left Ruby's eyes as wide as saucers.

"Is that what I think it is?" Before Mitchell could even blink the wrist-mounted device was out of his hands and eagerly being looked over by the over-enthusiastic courier. "Damn, it really is a Pip-Boy three thousand model!" Mitchell felt a small amount of satisfaction from seeing the girl so enamoured with the device.

"Huh, you coming from a vault I would have expected you to a' seen one before." Ruby's eyes never left the device as she shook her head, still excitedly turning it over so she could gaze at every inch. Mitchell suspected that the only reason she hadn't ripped it open was the fact he was standing there and she was trying to be polite.

"Our vault was only stocked with the two thousand models." She finally stopped eye-raping the pre-war tech as a sheepish smile inched its way onto her face. "I ran into some trouble a few years back and was forced to sell mine; really sad too as it had been with me since I was five years old." This time Mitchell tried not to be shocked... and failed; in Vault Twenty One your Pip-Boy was a sign you were an adult, ready for responsibilities; he couldn't imagine that being placed on a five-year old.

Suddenly though a thought seemed to strike Ruby as she looked up at the Doc before glancing between him and the device in her hands."Are you really giving me this?" Mitchell just gave the girl a warm smile and patted her gently on the shoulder. "But why? Don't you know how much you could get if you sold it?"

Mitchell just gave a small bark of a laugh before sighing amusedly. "And where exactly am I going to find somebody to sell it to kiddo? Goodsprings ain't the thriving little town it used to be. Plus, I'd feel better knowing that it's out there with you as opposed to some rich NCR Brahmin Baron that's too lazy to take stock o' what's in his pockets." Even Ruby had to smile that that; rare technology like this was highly sought after by the wealthier NCR citizens with more money than they knew what to do with. "Plus... maybe it'll be the thing that stops another bullet ending up in your noggin and ruining all my nice needlework eh?"

Ruby found herself torn between hugging the older man and opening the Pip-Boy up; she chose the former after a moment's hesitation. "Thanks Doc, for everything." If Mitchell was surprised by the hug he didn't show it, just calmly patting the girl on the back, wondering if his own kids would be like this if he had any. Eventually Ruby pulled away, rubbing the back of her head with a small cheeky grin. "Although now you've left me in the really awkward position of owing you a lot and having nothing to pay you with." To emphasise her point she emptied out the contents of her new jumpsuit's pockets to reveal little more than dust and lint.

"Ah you shouldn't worry about that kiddo; I've got enough here for an old man to live comfortably. Healing people is its own reward as my old teacher used to say; although do me one favour will ya." Ruby nodded eagerly; like most she didn't like being indebted to people and was happy to return the great kindness the good doctor had done for her. "Give up any notions of revenge you might have."

For a moment Ruby simply looked quizzical, wondering what Mitchell meant, before she remembered that there was a reason a bullet had been lodged in her skull. "Oh right, the guy who shot me." Mitchell was a little taken aback by the almost casual way Ruby spoke about the man who by all rights should have killed her, as if he had simply bumped her in the street or something. "Eh, life's too short for stuff like that; I'd much rather be rooting around in some Pre-war tech than go chasing after a man that's already put a bullet in my head once." Mitchell blinked once before nodding slowly, again confused by this odd girl that had been dragged to his doorstep not a week ago.

"Well good... I suppose." Ruby gave him a beaming grin as she slipped the Pip-Boy onto her arm, latching it closed around her wrist before pulling on the accompanying glove. "Oh and watch out for the-"

"Ah!" Ruby yelped as a sharp pain bit into her wrist, flailing the offending limb about as it felt like hundreds of volts of electricity were arcing up her arm. Her vision went fuzzy for a few moments before it all stopped abruptly, leaving a slight tingle up and down her left arm. Mitchell just smirked amusedly, remembering back to when he had first gotten his Pip-Boy, nobody could quite describe the feeling.

"Yeah, I probably should have mentioned that; that was the Pip-Boy taking a sample of your DNA so it could biometrically seal itself onto your wrist. Right now only you and the most skilled technicians could remove that thing and short of a miniature nuclear bomb it ain't breaking any time soon."

Ruby just grimaced as she rubbed her arm, unfortunately unable to scratch a sudden itch that had surfaced under the bulky device. "And the shock?"

Mitchell chuckled, earning a small glare from the girl; he had almost forgotten about that part. "Right; that was the VATs linking up with your nervous system." It was Ruby's turn to blink in surprise as she looked down at the device on her wrist incredulously. She was hardly a doctor by any stretch of the imagination but something linking with her nervous system didn't sound like a particularly good thing.

Mitchell caught her look though and quickly elaborated. "Don't worry, it's harmless unless you activate it; it pretty much just speeds up your brain activity for a few seconds. It's almost like time slows down for a while, good for making tough decisions or giving you a moment to think in stressful situations." He pointed to the glove that was connected to the wrist-mounted device. "You activate it with three quick taps to your palm."

Ruby seemed unsure at first but the gentle smile on the doctor's face put most of her concerns at ease. Experimentally, she curled her fingers back on her left hand and quickly tapped her palm three times like she was trying to clap one-handed. The effect was instantaneous; the edges of her vision blurred slightly but it was just like the Doc had said; time literally seemed to slow to a crawl. Her body didn't move any faster than before but she could send the signals much quicker. She imagined somebody equipped with this would have the reflexes to rival the NCR rangers themselves. She noticed that the doctor was telling her something but the sound was slow and distorted, inaudible to her much faster-moving mind.

"-bit of a headache at first." All at once reality snapped back to normal speed and immediately Ruby winced as her head throbbed painfully. Mitchell just gave her a sympathetic rub on the shoulder as she clutched at her temples. "Like I said, the first time's always pretty rough; your brain isn't supposed to work that quickly and keeping it up for too long can give you serious damage. Luckily there's an in-built safety that automatically disengages it after two seconds, although when it's on that can feel like twenty." Ruby nodded slowly, she definitely would not be abusing that... much.

"Well then, other than that I don't really suppose I have much to say." Mitchell announced, his tone kindly even if his smile was a little sad. He had to admit, as strange as Ruby was he was about due for some excitement and this girl was nothing if not exciting. "If you really ain't going after the man who tried to make a pincushion with your head then you probably won't want to stick around town very long. Even so I'd recommend you stay for at least a day or two; you'll need supplies and right now you ain't got the money for 'em. I'd lend a helping hand but I ain't exactly swimming in caps you know."

Ruby just smiled appreciatively, deciding against another hug and instead offering her hand. "It's alright; you've definitely done more than I could ask for." In response Mitchell tipped an invisible hat, making Ruby giggle slightly, and once again he had to marvel at her apparent innocence. The wastes had certainly taken younger boys and girls and turned them into cynics, pessimists, raiders and rapists; it was heart-warming to see that this girl at least still held onto some kind of virtue. He just hoped it wasn't naivety or the wastes would eventually prove to be a harsh wake-up call.

"Ask around the saloon maybe, if there's work to find here then that's where you'll find it." Ruby nodded again as Mitchell took her hand, shaking it in a warm, firm grasp. "And maybe drop by sometime; it'll be nice to see how my favourite patient is doing every now and then."

Ruby beamed as she gave a sloppy salute that would have any drill sergeant bug-eyed and beet-red with indignation. "I think I can manage that."

Mitchell grinned, spreading his moustache out. "Well then, take care kiddo; I hope I don't see you back here too soon."

Ruby nodded once before opening the door and walking out into Goodsprings, but not before giving a friendly wave to the man who had saved her life, or at least patched her up. However turning around proved to be a problem as the mid-morning rays of the sun managed to blind her momentarily. She had been used to weak sunlight filtering in through the blinds of Mitchell's house; the real thing was far more intense. Once again she couldn't help but think back five years; it was just like the first time she had emerged from the vault.

The two feelings were completely different though; back then she was a naive young kid who didn't properly understand what the sky was. She still remembered her childish amazement that the outside world didn't have a roof, despite her reading about it; it just seemed so incomprehensible back then. She sighed at the nostalgia before looking around; it was almost disappointing when her eyes finally adjusted. Goodsprings wasn't all that impressive of a town, just a bunch of scattered houses with people out front tending to their meagre crops. She could see the make-shift neon sign of a saloon but not a lot else that broke the monotony of pallid browns and muted greens.

' _Then again...'_ A sly grin appeared on her face as her eyes naturally drifted down to the glowing screen on her wrist. Without wasting a breath she sat down against the outside of the doctor's house and began to mess about with her latest toy. The sheer amount of functions the wrist-mounted computer offered might have been daunting if she wasn't already familiar with the earlier model. She was pleased to find it had the same auto-logging, clock and passive mapping features as her old computer but was even more pleasantly surprised to find a whole host of new features.

It seemed the device linking with her nervous system did more than connect her with the VATs, it gave her a run-down of her vitals as well. There was also a satellite map of her current location which was set to a large area around New Vegas that she could mark and label way-points on. Most helpfully though was the Holotape slot on the back that would instantly download any data-disks she found and play them back to her. However it was lacking the video function of the older model as well as the animated screen saver she had enjoyed watching sometimes out of boredom.

Of course this was just the surface, quickly Ruby got down to what she was good at as she carefully pried the screen off of the bulky pre-war tech. She nearly drooled at the sight of the various delicate and almost pristine electronics she found inside. Mostly it was a jumble of wires and assorted electrical components, but the way they were put together made her feel all warm inside. However before she could really get into it she was interrupted as a shadow fell over her form.

"Well howdy there Pardner." Spoke a corny and distinctly synthesised voice; Ruby quickly saw the source was a large, oddly proportioned robot. It rolled along on a single tyre attached to a bulky, box-like body with spindly arms looking like vacuum cleaner hoses with awkward pincers attached to the end. Of course that wasn't the strangest part... no, that would be the caricature of a cheesy cowboy head, complete with cigarette and neckerchief, displayed on a roughly television-sized screen at the centre of what she assumed was the machine's chassis.

"Uhh, can I help you?" Immediately Ruby felt incredibly stupid for actually answering the robot; she wasn't a bigot by any means but ultimately she knew any semblance of intelligence a machine like this could show was simply lines of sophisticated code. Nothing this small could house a true artificial intelligence; she should know, the computer governing her vault had been one. She had often passed time conversing with it and knew a truly artificial personality from pre-set dialogue options run by sub-routines and a voice synthesiser. Then again the vault's computer had about seven different personalities, at least one of which was a gerbil... but that was beside the point.

"Well funny you should mention that little lady, I don't suppose if the good doctor told you but I'm the one who pulled you out of that there grave up in the cemetery; the name's Victor." The robot pointed with one of its surprisingly dextrous arms towards a far-off hill where the outline of a large water tower could be seen. Ruby just raised an eyebrow, to her it almost sounded like the robot was smug about that and wondered who on earth would actually programme it like that. Right now though she was very eager to be playing about inside of her Pip-Boy so couldn't really care less what this robot was saying.

"Aaannnd...?" Ruby said, making sure to draw out the word as she once again wondered why she was humouring this mass of spare parts and coding. The robot couldn't express emotions but Ruby could have sworn what he said next was said in mild irritation.

"Well that would make me the one who saved your life little lady."

Ruby just chuckled as she fastened the screen of her Pip-Boy back on securely; she would have a look later. "Actually that would be the one who programmed you, or the one who built you... or I guess the one who designed you. You're not much more than electrical signals and some very sophisticated coding that I certainly wouldn't mind having a peek at."

If Victor seemed disturbed by the notion of Ruby prying him open and having a look inside he definitely didn't show it. "I suppose you were thinkin' of going after that rascal that done shot you in the head right?" Ruby just sighed, the robots pre-programmed thought processes were starting to show; that or it was simply ignoring her. Either way she had begun to grow less concerned with the conversation and more interested in just how this particular robot could seem so intelligent; it was actually rather impressive.

"Actually I wasn't."

The robot paused for a moment, obviously thrown for a loop by the answer and Ruby could almost see the sparks going off inside its casing as it tried to compute what she had said. She didn't allow it too though as she quickly stood up, looking the robot right in the screen, where she assumed its sensors were. "Victor, listen very carefully." That seemed to knock the robot out of whatever artificial daze it had entered. "This sentence is a lie." Immediately the robot froze in place as a smirk appeared on Ruby's face.

It was one of the oldest tricks when dealing with robots; it was a bit cliché but paradoxes were generally the best way to deal with synthetic intelligences that weren't full AIs. Their processors would loop over and over as it would try to comprehend the statement; of course they weren't designed to do this as the repeated computations would overheat the CPU. There was the slight fizz of electricity from inside Victor's casing before the screen turned dark and the robot slumped forward slightly. Naturally there was an in-built safety switch to turn the machine off before the processors could overheat, which had just been tripped in Victor.

Of course this loophole in a robot's intelligence wasn't anything new, especially after people started to abuse it during the early days of robot manufacture. There had been various measures to circumvent it, namely making the robot only acknowledge statements from certain people. In the military this meant the soldiers the machine was fighting for, for domestic robots it meant the owners. Unfortunately with machines designed to interface with anybody, like Victor, they were completely susceptible to the cheap trick. It was the downfall of sophisticated programming; in some cases simpler really was better.

Ruby just rubbed her hands together with an excited smile on her face, her Pip-Boy temporarily forgotten as she gave a cursory glance over the machine in front of her. There was a hungry gleam in her eye at the sight of untapped technology.

"Right then Vic, let's see what makes you tick."

* * *

 **A/N: Big thanks to my Beta and friend BackhandTrebond, who'll be sticking with me through this fic (The more encouragement to finish it the better right?)**


	2. Vic-tory in many forms

**Yeah, don't own Fallout... but then neither does Chris Avellone, so who knows?**

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 _"_ _Defect-free software does not exist._ _"_ – Wietse Venema

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The people in Goodsprings went about their usual daily crawl; Brahmin and crops were tended to while the occasional resident would stop by in the saloon for a cold drink to fight off the oppressive desert heat. The drag marks that led around from the front of the doctor's house over to an abandoned house went completely unnoticed. If anybody had spotted them they most likely would have ignored them, deeming them not even worth a second glance. If by the off chance somebody had taken the time to investigate they would have found a tired-looking Ruby knelt over the currently unmoving form of Victor, the resident robot.

' _Damn, you're one damn heavy bot.'_ The redhead wiped off the sweat that had accumulated on her brow; heavy lifting had never really been her thing. For one she lacked the upper body strength and she didn't exactly have the build for it. She was by no means short but she was slightly below average height-wise; she was also pretty wiry, although she preferred the term lithe. It was a build more suited for fitting into cramped ventilation ducts and maintenance shafts than lifting heavy equipment, like a mass of metal and wiring larger than most people.

' _Ahh but damn if you're not an inviting one.'_ A wry grin replaced her exhausted expression as she instinctively reached for the tools she always kept in a little satchel on her waist... only for her hand to grasp at air. _'Oh right, shot in the head... almost forgot.'_ She frowned as she wondered what had happened to her tools; a few of those had been with her almost as long as she had been out in the wastes; more than a few had been pretty hard to come by too. She stared down at the blank screen that had once proudly displayed Victor's cheesy cowboy face; it seemed to mock her with its silence.

' _Well where the hell am I supposed to get tools in a back-end town like this one?'_ She glanced across at the part of the small town she could see, the saloon's garish neon sign very much visible from where she was hunkered down. Next to it was the building she knew to be the general store, although that was a dead end considering she didn't have a cap to her name. That meant she would have to find something to barter with and that had never been a particular strong suit of hers.

Another cursory glance showed a large, somewhat decent looking building a small distance off, ringed by a faded picket fence. It seemed deserted which was odd considering it was obviously a building of importance before the war and was ripe for prospecting. She felt hesitant just leaving the robot where it was, even though she didn't suspect somebody would just stumble across it. In the end though she didn't have the will to move it any more, her arms ached just thinking about it, so she just pushed a bit of rubble near to it in hopes that it would better make it blend in.

It was only a short walk over to the wooden building and up close she could affirm that it was in good condition. The windows were caked with so much dust that she couldn't see inside, but it wasn't collapsed which was a start. Giving the door a careful push she was surprised when it gave easily, the wooden door swinging open on squeaky hinges. It was dark inside despite the sun beating down on the rest of the world, the entire building cast into an eerie gloom thanks to the weak light filtering in through the dust.

Ruby almost grinned as she finally got a chance to test her Pip-Boy's light, flicking it on with a tell-tale buzz. Immediately a small, three metre area around her was bathed in a warm glow, illuminated by the wrist-mounted computer. However she instantly regretted it as she looked up, managing to stare straight at the reason why this promising building hadn't been picked over yet.

About seven sets of beady black eyes attached to grossly oversized, spindly green bodies stared back at her, silence ensuing for a few moments. Of course it only lasted a few seconds before the giant mantises suddenly sprang into action. It might have been comical how they scuttled towards her, their bodies rising and various colourful flaps opening up in an attempt to make themselves look larger. However the cruel bony pincers they carried could shear straight through flesh if she let them get to close. Almost on reflex Ruby found herself tapping her palm three times in quick succession, immediately noting the world slowing to a crawl around her.

' _Okay calm down, I've managed to stumble into a nest of mantises but they're just bugs...'_ She grimaced as she caught the eye of the lead bug, the largest of the group, staring right at her with its bulbous eyes. _'...giant vicious bugs that probably want to lay eggs in my stomach.'_ She took a calming breath- figuratively, as she couldn't actually breathe any quicker in VATs. _'Okay, I have the laser pistol Doc Mitchell gave me, if I can get it up I can probably fire off a few shots before they can get too close.'_ She did a quick headcount of the mantises rushing her in slow motion, totalling at seven oversized bugs.

' _Alright that's not too bad, the standard AEP7 has a thirty shot capacity on a single energy cell unit; of course my tweaks will probably have lowered that somewhat but at least I won't have to shoot twice.'_ Ruby could already feel the effects of VATs begin to subside as reality slowly began to speed up again, the rest of the world catching up with her enhanced synapses. Using what little time she had left she quickly formulated a loose battle plan, finishing just as the rush of blood in her ears signified the advanced function wearing off.

Immediately she grabbed the pistol off her waist, raising it up with unsteady hands before squeezing the trigger and firing off a beam of super-charged energy at the closest bug. One of the benefits of laser weaponry was the lack of recoil; the only thing signifying she had actually fired at all was the lance of red light that shot out of the gun. It speared through the air before hitting the creature right in its spindly body. Ruby had to stop her self-congratulation as the enhanced pistol's shot sheared right through the unfortunate critter, leaving a singed and blackened hole of charred flesh where a few of its vital organs had once been.

She didn't have much time to be pleased though as she was forced to fired off three more shot in quick succession. The first burnt a small, harmless crater in the wooden floor but the other two met their mark in the head and body of two respective mantises. A fourth suddenly leapt at her, surprising her with how far it could fling itself on its thin little legs. Instinctively she brought up a hand to protect her face, and as luck would have it the pincer that might have gouged out a hefty scar scraped harmlessly against the reinforced casing of her Pip-Boy. Blinking to get over her surprise she immediately lashed out with the pistol, crushing the bug's head in a disgusting burst of green blood.

A minute later and she was panting heavily, the adrenaline in her system wearing off as her senses were suddenly assaulted by the acrid stench of ozone andcharred mantis meat. Briefly her over-active mind wondered what the slow-cook setting was on an AEP7 but she quickly shook it off. She wouldn't be eating bug meat as long as there was another option; she hadn't sunk that low. Taking a moment to catch her breath and wipe off some of the bug guts that had managed to get on her jumpsuit, she holstered her weapon before taking a look around the building.

It seemed to be just one large room; in the haste of the fight she hadn't really taken a good look at it and now that she could she saw a lot of over-turned desks littering the floor. She guessed it was some kind of schoolhouse before the war, what with the various posters promoting reading and learning just barely clinging to the dusty walls. She nudged one of the desks by her feet and the lid swung open, allowing a few grimy text books to fall out onto the floor; Ruby was sure that, if she were still alive, the teacher would be horrified.

However the elementary-grade text books weren't what interested her; no, that would be the gleam of metal interspersed amongst the yellowed papers. She crouched down, standing up triumphantly a moment later with a few bottle caps in her hand, a grin on her face. _'Thank the overseer that kids were practically addicted to this stuff before the war;_ _it's_ _a good thing they didn't seem to care about the problems caffeine gave children.'_ Ruby shrugged, figuring the problems of two centuries ago weren't her concern as she began to root around in the rest of the desks.

She was briefly confused when many of the caps she found weren't proudly emblazoned with the bright red and white label of Nuka-cola, practically the national drink of America before the war and almost the national drink of the NCR. Instead they seemed to be for some brand of Sarsaparilla, a soft drink that was a blend of Birch oil, Sassafrass extract and artificial flavourings. It had never really done much for Ruby in the past, she much preferred the more traditional Cola. Finally she stood at the centre of the room, counting up the many caps she had found, thanking her lucky stars that the mantises had managed to stave off prospectors and looters this long.

' _Forty two caps, not too bad; it'll get me a few meals and some water for a while at least.'_ She shrugged nonchalantly as she pocketed the precious soft-drink tops before giving the schoolhouse another once-over. It was at that point that she realised her Pip-Boy's glow wasn't the only source of light in the building. Over in the corner was an old, beat up monitor, faintly glowing with a dull green light that most computers still had before the war. Ruby's eyes lit up as she spotted it; technology was her passion and computers were always fascinating things to delve into.

She was across the room in seconds, activating the boxy little computer's boot up sequence a moment later. She waited patiently as green text flitted across the screen, loading up its software. However she frowned as an annoying little message decided to remind her that this particular computer required a password. The frown only lasted a moment before it was replaced by a cocky smirk and the cracking of knuckles.

' _Challenge accepted.'_ She rolled her neck once before her fingers became a blur of movement, tapping away at the keyboard as she accessed various command prompts using RobCo override codes she knew off by heart. Most of their equipment had been fairly standardized towards the latter days of the resource wars, making it notoriously easy to hack into if you knew what you were doing. There was an in-built security measure in the case that a user might forget their password; the computer would randomly generate a bunch of passwords of similar length with the real one mixed in, to jog the user's memory.

It was just a case of hacking into this particular programme with an administration code that allowed Ruby to see all the randomly generated passwords. It was then just a case of narrowing down her search options by removing the duds one by one until at least three passwords were left. After that it was a simple job of trial and error as the system was rather forgiving, giving you three attempts before it would completely lock the 'intruder' out. Of course Ruby knew a trick that would open it right up again should she somehow get locked out, but that hadn't happened to her since she was eight years old.

' _Grade huh? Should've known it'd be something like that.'_ With an incredibly satisfying whir from the CPU the command menu disappeared, replaced by the normal screens. The reward didn't seem worth the effort though as the green text rolled across the flickering screen. It was just various reports on the children's grades, a few personal notes from the teacher, a Mrs Lecker, and a poem which Ruby quickly skipped over. However just as she was about to log off she noticed a little blinking bar at the bottom of the screen, the very last listed option. When she scrolled down to it a new grin grew across her features as she read 'Disengage lock'.

She clicked it and immediately another small click of a mechanical lock releasing caught her attention. When she turned she finally noticed the large black safe built into the wall, it was rusted and a lot of the paint had flecked off over the years but it still seemed operable. Kicking it open her face fell again, once again as all she was met with were various papers and documents, no doubt test papers or report cards; things that didn't interest Ruby in the slightest. However learning from her near mistake with the computer she crouched down, peering into the darkness of the safe.

Her eyes narrowed when she spotted something right at the back, partially hidden by a loose sheet of paper. She reached in and pulled it out, her eyes immediately widening in surprise as she turned it over in her hands. She had never actually seen one for herself before, only hearing about them from scavengers that practically considered them more valuable than gold. To be honest it didn't look like much, a small circular casing just larger than the face of a watch with a tiny dish-like projector poking up from the top.

' _A real stealth-boy, I wonder what it's doing in here?'_ She supposed it wouldn't be too strange forparanoid American citizens to have such a device on hand in the event of a Chinese invasion. However even before the war they were fairly experimental, not going into mass circulation due to a number of defects and difficulty of production. After all they were based on technology the Americans didn't fully understand. Stealth technology was dominated by the Chinese with their famous Hei Gui dragoon unit that caused so much trouble during the anchorage campaign. Once again Ruby had to thank her father for making her read those news articles; it was always easier to work and adapt technology when you knew the context in which they were originally used.

' _Maybe she had a friend in the military?'_ Ruby just shrugged, once again the goings on of a two century year old school teacher were none of her concern. She looked up, placing the stealth boy in a satchel she had liberated from one of the desks, judging it a suitable replacement for the one she lost after being shot. Glancing around the room she spotted a small area separate from the main classroom and, remembering why she had come in here in the first place, she walked over, having to weave between smoking mantis corpses.

A wry smile found its way onto her face as she found what she was looking for; the room was some kind of storage area and high up on one of the twisted metal shelves was a large industrial toolbox. It was heavy but she managed to pull it down and not pour its contents all over the floor. A lot of it was useless either due to rust or simply because it seemed to be scrap metal but Ruby came away from it with a new wrench, a screwdriver set, a small spot welder, wires of various lengths, a few fission batteries as well as a few other assorted components useful in electronic maintenance. She emerged from the schoolhouse heavier but happier as she quickly strode back over to where she had left Victor.

' _Right then,_ now _let's get you open so I can see just how you work.'_ Not knowing where to start she just chose at random, using her newly acquired screwdrivers to carefully remove the screen at the centre of the bot's 'body'. She had cleared out a nice space next to Victor on the floor of the building so she set the screen there, making sure not to crack the glass. Inside the machine itself was practically a utopia for Ruby, a mess of wiring connecting complicated components which in turn bridged mechanical hardware that moved the machine itself.

She immediately went for the small, boxy computer at the heart of the machine, noticing a slowly blinking light. After digging around in the programming for a while a self-satisfied smirk found its way onto her face. It turned out that blinking light was connected to carefully placed explosives primed at key points along the machine's frame. It was designed to activate should the machine be forcibly shut-down, most likely with the use of an EMP. It seemed that the only reason it hadn't been trigered was due to the safeties activating when Ruby caused its processor to nearly melt down.

' _Trying to protect your secrets eh? I guess I'm too smart for you… H &H Tools Company." _The redhead chuckled as she continued to play about inside the machine, enjoying being able to completely and utterly dismantle something again. Of course the first things she removed were the explosives, very slowly and very carefully; after all, you couldn't be too safe. She had no idea how long she spent rooting around within the carcass of the robot but by the end of it the sun was making a steady decent towards the horizon and she had a much greater understanding of how this 'Securitron model PDQ-88b MkI' worked.

' _Well that was certainly informative; now then...'_ Her thoughts trailed off as she noticed something as she was delving through the bot's programming. She had seen a lot of redundant systems within the machine itself but hadn't really thought much more of it besides how they worked. However now she also noticed there was a lot of 'junk' programming all throughout the Securitron's CPU. However as soon as she tried to activate it or even look at it in more depth the same message would always pop up – **'Cannot complete function, MkII drivers not detected'**.

' _Mark two software huh? Seems there's more to you than meets the eye, eh Vic?'_ Deciding that there was little more she could do unless she wanted to completely disassemble the Securitron, and the urge _was_ there, she closed up the screen, screwing it back into place quickly as the machine began its boot up process. She figured it would probably be of more use put together than as scrap in her backpack, a lot of which she wouldn't be able to carry. She stepped back as the bulky machine suddenly pushed itself upright using its hose-like arms.

"Hey Vic, how was your slee-" She trailed off when she noticed that the image on the bot's screen was no longer of that cartoon cowboy. Instead it was simply blank, for a moment she wondered if she had messed something up or deleted a few lines of code when she was messing about with the machine's 'brain'. However it seemed fully operational; she gave it a small kick and sure enough it immediately corrected itself so it wouldn't fall over.

"Hello?" The robot actually turned to her in response to her voice which was slightly creepy considering it no longer had a defining face of any kind. However it didn't do much more than that; just stare at her blankly. She suddenly realised that it must be waiting for some kind of order or instruction now that it lacked a personality; which she assumed the face meant. "Um, command prompt override, administrative authorisation 5C4R13T." The Securitron just continued to stare blankly at her, giving no sign of whether or not it had heard her.

She frowned, figuring that without a personality matrix it was most likely unresponsive to anything she would say. She could probably set up a rudimentary personality with enough coding to follow very basic instructions but it would probably take her the rest of the day. With a small sigh she pulled out the short extendable lead that acted as a connection port for the Pip-Boy and attached it into the Securitron. Immediately, long strings of complex coding began to run back and forth across the little screen; it was now her job to sort through it all, find where the original matrix had been and override it completely before asserting her own.

' _An easy task then.'_ Even her thoughts were dripping with sarcasm.

* * *

It was a slow day for the Goodsprings general store; the place was empty despite the new shipment of goods Chet, the owner, had recently got in. He stood behind the counter, idly flicking through an old boxing magazine as he kept one eye on the door, not that he expected anybody to a walk in. Goodsprings was slowly dying, he could see that; with the NCR and the legion battling over the territory, despite all of the NCR claims that fighting was restricted to the river, people just didn't feel safe anymore. They all stuck to the roads now and only the occasional brave traveller or occasional courier looking to re-supply would stop in.

He was surprised then when the little bell signifying the door being open jingled; instantly a professional and well-rehearsed smile was on his face. It was a young woman, probably in her early twenties, with striking red hair pulled back into a pony-tail and two long bangs framing a pale, freckled face. For a moment he wondered how somebody could still have such a pale complexion out in the desert but the thought vanished as she walked up to the desk, a carefree smile on her face. Oddly she appeared to be wearing an old Vault suit, worn and dusty from the desert; although she didn't walk like somebody straight out of a vault so he guessed it wasn't hers.

"Well hey there, welcome to Goodsprings general store; I'm Chet, how can I help you?" It slightly sickened Chet to have to play the nice guy for customers but it was how he earned his living so he just sucked it up and put on a pleasant smile.

"Oh hi, I was wondering what kind of supplies you have." Chet's smile widened slightly; the girl had a nice voice, soft and pleasant to the ears; it made an enjoyable change from the dry, musty old people that lived in the out of the way town. Maybe he should see if she was planning to stay a while; she was definitely easy on the senses.

"Well we've got your standard food and drink, purified water of course. We have a healthy stock of Sunset Sarsaparilla if that's what you're hankering for, or some Nuka Cola for a more western taste." He threw that in because she didn't look the type to be from the Mojave, probably from NCR territory. "Other than that we got your odds and ends, ammunition and a few guns; now how can I be of service?" The girl just smiled pleasantly as she glanced around the store; most of what was out was stuff Chet didn't care too much about, the good stuff was in the back; less likely to be stolen that way.

"Do you have any clothes?" Ah, there it was; Chet remembered that the old doctor up on the hill had come from a vault and sure enough he caught a glimpse of the large '21' emblazoned on the back.

"Lookin' to trade in that vault suit?" Genuine merchandise from vaults went for a fair few caps these days what with the NCR's relentless mission to find all the ones they could. The girl just looked down at herself, as if only just remembering that she was wearing the jumpsuit.

"Oh uh yeah, these things aren't too comfortable in the heat." Chet just nodded knowingly, still using his knowledgeable and friendly store-owner persona even though he had no clue how hot a vault suit could get, nor did he particularly care beyond how much he could sell it for.

"Well I don't know about clothes, but I did get in a shipment of leather armour recently." He reached under the counter and pulled up a large jacket that seemed to be patched together out of old motorcycle outfits and various swathes of leather. It didn't look very good but it would protect you from bites and maybe lower calibre guns. It wouldn't do a thing against energy weapons but those were pretty rare around the Mojave.

"Wouldn't that be incredibly hot to walk around it?" Ruby just grimaced as she thought about wearing a full set of leather clothing out under the desert sun; you would probably have to scrape it off her skin by the end of the day. Chet just shrugged as he put the Jacket back under the desk, he couldn't sell to everybody.

"Maybe, but wouldn't it be worth the protection?" Ruby just shook her head with a small smile.

"I think I'll pass; the smell of slow cooked Ruby doesn't really appeal to me." Chet chuckled in that jovial way that always seemed to loosen people up; he couldn't understand it himself but whatever worked right?

"Ruby; that's a pretty name, matches your hair." The girl simply grinned as she idly fingered a loose strand of her scarlet locks.

"Thanks." She stopped playing with her hair long enough to look around the store again before sticking a hand in her satchel. Chet nearly preened at the sound of jingling caps, a sound he practically lived for as a merchant. "I'll take three bottles of water, some jerky, a few Bighorner steaks and as many energy cells as this can buy. She laid down the few caps she had, the sight of which put a small gleam in Chet's eye. He immediately scraped them back over the counter and into his hand, his well-trained eye already counting them and working out just how much the girl could get for it.

"Pleasure doing business with you miss."

* * *

The gentle squeak of a tire was the only thing breaking the silence on the road; the sun was rising in the distance making everything cast a long shadow. The world was in a strange twilight stage between sleeping and waking; the geckos had yet to come out but there was the gentle hum of insects and the occasional iguana could be seen taking advantage of the early sunlight. The dry grass swayed in a light, cooling breeze as a single tumbleweed lazily rolled across the dusty earth.

Ruby walked the cracked, sun-bleached road in silence, constantly fiddling with the Pip-Boy on her wrist that was connected by a long lead into the Securitron rolling along beside her. She now wore a large canvas bag on her back with all her supplies in, along with her usual satchel with her equipment and spare parts in. Unfortunately she was stuck with the vault suit which wasn't too bad as it was at least somewhat breezy and had plenty pockets, but the sooner she could get her hands on some jeans the better. She had come to like the strange trousers that were so prevalent in the NCR and missed the pair she had managed to get.

The Securitron that had previously been Victor still had a blank screen, Ruby hadn't decided on what she wanted it to display. However it now had some ability to follow her commands as long as they were relatively simple; she was busy fixing that though, expanding on the words it could understand. That was why she would occasionally call out a random phrase; anybody watching would thing she was crazy. Slowly the robot was learning though; although she had to admit the already advanced programming was helping a lot; the speech recognition software was really something else.

"Now open your inventory." On queue the robot's rear hatch opened, revealing a spacious compartment that could be used to store things. It was pretty useful to have an autonomous suitcase, especially for the heavier stuff she didn't want to lug about. "Okay, now wait." The robot immediately stopped in its tracks, the single tire it rolled on squeaking in protest. "Alright, now follow." There was a moment of hesitation before the robot began rolling forward again, that familiar rhythmic squeaking starting up again.

Right now Ruby was working on the robot's combat parameters; she had never been much of a fighter so having a hulking metal bodyguard sounded incredibly appealing. There wasn't much else to do on the road anyway unless she wanted to listen to the radio and that would only distract her. Also country music tended to get on her nerves after developing a taste for more modern music in the vault's archives. Luckily for her the robot's IFF seemed to be perfectly fine, it knew the difference between a hostile and a non-combatant; in fact that seemed deeply ingrained in its programming making Ruby wonder what it had been designed for.

"Huh." She looked up from her Pip-Boy's screen with a thoughtful look, blinking a moment as her eyes adjusted to the brighter light. "I guess I need a name for you." The Securitron just rolled along beside her, unresponsive to her idle thought. "Well I guess PD will work for now." Again she got no response from the stoic machine, not that she expected one with the little programming she had installed so far. "Do you like that PD?" This time the machine actually tilted towards her slightly, most likely due to a bump in the road but Ruby was ever the optimist. "PD it is then!" A happy grin alighted on her face as she returned to her work on the little wrist-mounted computer.

As she worked on the coding she kept an eye on the satellite map that tracked her position in real-time, there was a small blinking marker that showed her destination, a small town to the south called Primm. She didn't have any real intention of going after the man who shot her but she figured she should at least drop by the Mojave express and let them know the package wasn't delivered. She could see it way off in the distance, a black silhouette made hazy by the desert heat. As she walked the desert began to come alive and that indistinct blob grew larger, beckoning her closer.


	3. Primm 'n' proper

**Hmm, if I don't own Fallout, then it also means I don't own Fallout Tactics... that's something at least.**

* * *

 _"_ _Technology is the knack of so arranging the world that we don't have to experience it_." – Max Frisch

* * *

Private Dawkins was in many ways an average soldier; he had a loving wife waiting for him back in New Arroyo, a child on the way. He had fair accuracy at the ranges, enough that his sergeant wasn't on his ass but not good enough for a field promotion or even a posting out to Camp Forlorn Hope. He was of a slim build, enough muscle on him to last the long marches the Brass put them through but nothing all that special. However all of his friends and comrades knew one thing about him that often had him at the butt of many jokes; he was very easily bored.

Right now he was leaning against a half-collapsed wall, the powdery mortar just about keeping the bricks together. His face-wrap was bunched around his neck, relieving him somewhat of the oppressive heat out in the desert. It wasn't a particularly hot day for the Mojave but compared to the much milder climate back in Arroyo it was still a furnace. It didn't help that the standard issue armour for NCR grunts like him was thick canvas and body armour; it was like walking around in his own personal oven.

He fiddled idly with his gun; the pin had been catching recently making it difficult for him to reload. He figured he would have to trade it in for a new one next time his company was down at the Mojave outpost. He groaned noisily as he slung it onto his back, his fingers twitching irritably in the heavy gloves he was forced to wear. He tilted his helmet back to wipe a hand through his sweaty hair but that only occupied him for a few seconds.

The postings where he was on his own, acting as lookout or guard, were always the worst; at least if he was with someone he could whittle away the time with some stories or maybe a card game. It was especially fun if he was with Private Watson, that guy was so tightly wound Dawkins swore he would snap if he so much as prodded him too hard. He could waste away a good few hours trying to get a rise out of the man as his face slowly turned a more virulent shade of red. However that wasn't the case now, he was stuck out in the heat, on his own, standing watch over this little town in the back end of NCR fringe territory.

So bored out of his mind was he, that he barely noticed the hazy speck off in the distance that was gradually becoming a slightly bigger speck. He finally noticed when the sound of a squeaking tire met his ears and forced him to look up, his eyes widening in surprise. Dawkins had of course been to New Vegas on leave; not to any of the casinos mind, his wife would kill him if she found out he had gambled away their savings with a child on the way. That was why he was rather surprised to spot a Securitron making a beeline straight towards him.

However oddly enough that wasn't the surprising thing; no, that would definitely be the young red-haired girl riding along on the machine's shoulder mounting. Dawkins blinked in surprise at the strange sight; he didn't even think that Securitrons ever left the strip, never mind go wheeling about with random girls riding them like some kind of mechanised horse. He was so shocked he only realised what he was supposed to be doing out there when the thing was about to move past him down the road. It was only then that he noticed the oddly familiar blue jumpsuit the girl was wearing; although he couldn't put his mind to where he had seen it before.

"Uh hey!" The girl that was riding the robot looked up, having been tinkering with something in her hands the entire time; it looked very complicated to Dawkins and he could barely follow the mess of wires.

"Oh, hi there." Again Dawkins blinked at the surprisingly friendly attitude from the girl; it was far too... normal an answer for somebody riding a Securitron.

"Hey uh, you might wanna steer clear of Primm miss, it's dangerous over there right now." The girl just smiled at him in a friendly manner, hopping down off the Securitron's shoulder and patting it like one might a faithful dog.

"Really? I need to go see the Mojave Express people; that's here right?" Dawkins looked down for a moment, going over the plan of the small town their commander had made them memorize in case it came to a fire fight.

"Ah yes it is ma'am but I don't think those folks'll be in right now, there's a situation in the town that hasn't been resolved yet." Ruby just walked forward curiously, stowing the small mechanism she had been working on in her satchel.

"What kind of situation? Will it be over soon?" The soldier looked down and chuckled humourlessly; if the situation was quick to be resolved he wouldn't be standing around in the back end of this desert, bored out of his mind.

"Ah, no ma'am, this ain't the kind of situation to be fixed so easily. A bunch of the convicts that broke out of NCRCF a few weeks back set up shop in the Bison Steve hotel a ways down there." He pointed in the direction of the large roller-coaster emerging out of a particularly noticable building. "They've pretty much taken the town hostage, got 'em holed up in the Vikki & Vance." Ruby just blinked in surprise; when she had decided to head down into Primm she hadn't thought she would be walking into a genuine hostage situation. Her first instincts were to simply move on, that it wasn't her problem and she could let the NCR soldiers deal with it; unfortunately it _was_ her problem.

"Ah, well why don't you guys go in and flush them out; this is NCR territory right?" She wasn't exactly up to date on modern geography; it was her job to deliver packages, it didn't really matter in whose land she was delivering them to. Dawkins just chuckled again with a small shake of his head.

"If it is then the locals sure ain't acting like it miss; wouldn't even be here save this is an important route for personnel movements up north, or at least it would be if the I-15 weren't crawling with Deathclaws." Ruby frowned, she still needed to see the Mojave Express people but if they were holed up in some hostage situation, or perhaps even dead, then she didn't really want to risk her life. She blinked before looking around at the hulking machine standing silently beside her.

"Well maybe I could help." Dawkins was about to laugh her off but she quickly re-iterated, patting PD on the arm. "Let me re-phrase that, maybe my friend here could help." That gave Dawkins pause for a moment; he had seen just how effective those rolling metal brutes were at dealing with the various ruffians that would occasionally try to break into the strip. The convicts weren't very well equipped and the young private wouldn't be surprised if only a handful even had guns. Anyway, if worst came to worst no NCR property would be damaged and a few of the convicts might be taken out in the process.

"Um, well, I suppose if you think you'll be safe." The private said in a wavering voice, however Ruby simply nodded happily; heck, she wouldn't be anywhere near any of the actual combat if she had anything to say about it. That was what she was doing with the small, complex-looking device she had been fiddling with for the past half hour. Hooking her Pip-Boy up to the Securitron was all well and good but she would prefer something a little more permanent, not to mention wireless. Hopefully this would accomplish just that, creating a wireless link between her wrist-mounted computer and the bulky machine.

Of course any tech-savvy person would easily be able to disable that link if they knew what they were looking for but if Ruby really was dealing with a few convicts straight out of prison that shouldn't be too much of an issue. That in mind she gave the still rather befuddled young soldier a cheeky salute and walked on toward the town, PD trundling dutifully after her. Dawkins continued to stare at her worriedly for a few moments before she turned a corner and was lost from sight.

He found himself chuckling involuntarily for a moment; despite her slight frame he had the weirdest feeling that the young redhead would be just fine. Well, _he_ certainly wouldn't want to go up against a Securitron, that was for sure.

* * *

Ruby allowed a small frown to slip onto her features as she walked away; she hadn't expected this kind of trouble. A berating for failing her delivery sure, maybe even having to pay for it out of her own pocket which she definitely wouldn't be able to afford; but a hostage situation? Still, she supposed it was a good enough opportunity to test out the small wireless transmitter she had been configuring.

Fitting it into PD posed no problems and soon her Pip-boy was scrolling through lines of code as she verified the uplink. If what she saw here was correct she had about a 120m radius that the robot could receive instruction from; that was plenty far enough. Giving the stoic machine another pat in the arm she set her face into a resolute mask and carried on walking.

"Alright PD, time for a quick test run." Its tire seemed to squeak as if in agreement as the two made their way steadily further into the smaller town, using the large rollercoaster as an indicator of where to go.

The first sign of conflict came without any kind of warning as the brick-work of a nearby building suddenly gained a new hole, just shy of Ruby's ear. Instinctively looking round she was met by the sight of a rather dirty figure wearing a leather jacket strung with twin bandoleers. That was all she managed to glean before he finished reloading his rifle, and ducked as he lined up another shot. However he was not the only one and the next bullet found itself pinging harmlessly off of PD's reinforced chassis.

The air became abuzz with the staccato chatter of its in-built 9mm machine gun, and with just flimsy leather between it and the convict's body the poor man didn't stand a chance. Ruby felt a little queasy looking across at his prone form, blood slowly leaking out onto the pavement beneath him, but forced it down and continued on. That first bullet had been far too close for her liking, it would have been a rather underwhelming end to her story, especially after already surviving one bullet to the skull.

The rest of the convicts occupying the streets never even got _that_ chance; far more cautious after her close call with a piece of lead she chose to send PD ahead of her this time. It proved either a strong defence or a good deterrent as, aside from a few low-calibre bullets harmlessly ricocheting off its form, the rest of the escaped prisoners were mowed down without much fanfare. Ruby didn't even see most of it, deciding sticking her head out into a firefight wasn't the brightest idea.

However she certainly saw the aftermath. It was both astonishing and sickening how much damage a machine like PD could do to a poorly-equipped fighting force like this and soon a good dozen or so bullet-riddled convicts lay motionless on the dusty ground. Afterwards she went about checking through their pockets for anything valuable; it was gruesome, and if she was perfectly honest Ruby hated doing it, but it was simply a necessary part of post-apocalyptic life. It wasn't as though they needed it anymore; still, she tried to avoid looking them in the face.

She managed to scrounge a good few caps as well as some ammo which would prove useful in re-stocking PD, but not a lot else of use or interest. With that done she did an about turn and walked over to the doors of the Vikki and Vance. However after laying a hand on the door she thought better of it and instead decided to send PD through. It proved unnecessary though as there didn't seem to be a single convict within, instead she was suddenly confronted by an elderly man with as many patches on his clothes as there were wrinkles on his face.

"W-What's going on? Who are you? We heard gunshots and…" The man seemed to pause, possibly to regain his breath after the rapid-fire questioning as he glanced down at her clothing. He obviously came to the conclusion that she was _not_ another convict and summarily calmed down. "Are we finally being rescued?" Ruby was startled by the hopeful look on his face as he seemed to instantly shed a few years. What was even more startling was that very same look being shared by the various other residents of the spacious casino.

"Can we go home now?" Came a cry from the back.

"Is it safe?" Came another, this time from a woman peeking from behind a slots machine.

"Are you with the NCR?" A young man shouted; however Ruby didn't get the chance to answer as the elderly man cut them all off with a wave of his hands.

"Give the young lady a chance to speak would ya?" And once again he turned to face her hopefully, unsettling the redhead with the intensity in his sun-strained eyes.

"Ahh well, um, no I'm not with the NCR and uh, I suppose you're being rescued?" Ruby finally managed, unable to avoid the slight uplift of her voice at the end. She hadn't really been expecting this; more just checking to see if the hostages were okay before moving on to the hotel to finish up with the convicts. The old man seemed somewhat disappointed that she was the extent of their cavalry but quickly got over his confusion.

"So, you got a plan for those ruffians in the hotel miss…"

"Ruby." She clarified.

"Ah, Johnson Nash; now as you were sayin'…"

Ruby simply stared at him for a moment before her eyes went wide with realisation, quickly glancing over at PD who had remained quiet at her side this while time. "Well, I was just going to send my Securitron in there to get rid of them all, with the kind of weapons the convicts have-"

"Wait you can't do that!" Johnson seemed incredibly alarmed by the thought, although he refrained from grabbing the younger girl. "Our Deputy, Beagle, he was taken by those ne'er-do-wells; your robot there might kill him too."

Ruby grimaced at that; the man was probably right; she was just going to temporarily remove PD's IFF so that he would kill everything in the hotel; now even that plan was shot to hell. "Ah well then, I'll just have to follow him in there." The distinct lack of enthusiasm for the new plan was rather obvious in her tone. "I'll uh, be right back I guess." She made to turn and leave, more to get away from the suddenly awkward atmosphere than anything else, only to have her wrist grabbed suddenly.

"Thank you young miss." It was Johnson, looking at her with sincere, watery eyes. "We don't mean ta' put you in this kind'a danger, but we really do appreciate what ya'll done for us."

Ruby gave a weak smile and a quick nod, not trusting her words at the moment and quickly left the casino, taking a deep breath once she was outside. "I need to get better at dealing with people." She muttered quietly before huffing and making a beeline for the Bison Steve. Vault life had _not_ prepared her for all this, and apparently neither had five years of courier work.

It was with trepidation that she opened the front doors to the lobby, only to immediately whip her head back around as splintered wood went flying out, along with the deafening crack of a rifle. She patted PD on the arm rather forcefully and placed a strained smile on her lips. "Alright big guy, you're up." The large Securitron dutifully wheeled through the doors and only after the cacophony of his arm-mounted machine gun died down did Ruby risk another look around the door, sighing when it proved all clear.

Moving through the decrepit old hotel was slow going, is seemed around every corner was another convict, either drawn by the gunfire from their previous scuffle, or caught unawares as a trundling mass of steel and ammunition suddenly appeared around a bend. Eventually though, Ruby came across what she imagined used to be the dining room, although stumbled in might be more appropriate. The sudden silence as she was stared down by no less than five rather large and aggressive looking men was decidedly unnerving.

It was broken rather suddenly as, in a feat of improbable synchronisation, they all brought their weapons to bear at once. Almost on instinct Ruby found herself tapping the glove of her Pip-boy and instantly the world slowed to a crawl, as if the men in front of her were suddenly moving in thick molasses. The redhead mentally gulped as her eyes narrowed in on what she deemed the biggest threat in the room, the convict currently hefting an enormous flamethrower in her direction, the small pilot-flame in front of the barrel flickering in almost taunting slow-motion.

Realising her time was almost up she noted the positions of everyone in the spacious room, where PD was, as well as the nearest source of non-flammable cover. As soon as the nauseating rush of blood passed her ears she dived to the right, just in time to avoid a veritable wall of lead that made swiss-cheese of the flimsy door she had come in through.

As soon as she was safely behind a metal table she clamped her hands over her ears, just in time for the convict's wave of bullets to be met by a return volley from the Securitron. The noise was deafening yet unbelievably the roar of the flamethrower seemed to drown out all else and she soon realised why when the metal protecting her began to glow an ominous red; she immediately leapt back, as though she had been burned herself.

The decision was immediately regretted as the convict hoisted the flamer a little higher, his eyes murderous as Ruby watched, almost in slow motion, as his finger squeezed the trigger of the bulky weapon. She closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable heat to consume her body; only the pain never came. Instead she faintly heard an odd 'thwup' sound and her entire world was replaced by a thunderous explosion that threw her like a rag-doll into the wall.

It was only after what felt like a few minutes of staring dazedly across the room, her ears ringing with a persistent high-pitched whine, that Ruby managed to find her senses. A couple of blinks removed the lights swimming through her vision and eventually the whine became an irritating buzz she could just about ignore. Instead she looked at her saviour, or more precisely the arm-mounted grenade launcher PD was equipped with. She just about managed a weak chuckle before letting her head flop back against the wall again.

"Oh good, that works." She sighed out wearily.

She had made a few attempts on the way from Goodsprings to bring some of the Securitron's redundant systems online but they remained irritatingly stubborn, constantly citing those same missing drivers. She thought she had been making progress but hadn't been sure; it seemed though, that her efforts had paid off.

Eventually, and that was all Ruby was willing to admit as far as how long it actually took her, the redhead managed to fight down her nausea and clamber to her feet, albeit unsteadily. By now that slight ringing had vanished and she was able to make out muffled cries from somewhere in the building. She found their source within what appeared to be a kitchen, although decrepit and perverted from its purpose into a makeshift prison by the looks of things.

"Oh thank goodness, I'm finally being rescued." The young sandy-haired man currently tied up on the floor managed to sputter around a dirty gag that had come loose from his mouth; Deputy Beagle she presumed. "I was beginning to lose ho-oh, thank you." He muttered as Ruby sliced through his bindings, rubbing his wrists and cracking his joints as he stood. Before she even blinked though he was already moving in the direction of the exit.

"Hey wait, there are still more of them upstairs." She called out after him, only for the deputy to turn and eye her with a quirked brow.

"Ah, well you seem to have things in hand, carry on then." And without so much as a goodbye he turned and bolted from the room. Ruby was left slightly agape at his speedy exit before scowling, her finger subconsciously twitching toward the laser pistol on her hip.

"Coward." She muttered spitefully under her breath before sighing piteously to the empty room.

However her morose attitude turned out to be unwarranted, the eradication of the remaining convicts proved rather swift after that. With the threat of a hostage gone Ruby was content simply allowing PD to run loose, and in the confined space of the hotel's corridors it proved disastrous for the escapees. The upper floors became choke points filled with the continuous crack of its submachine gun or the soft whine of its in-built Gatling laser.

Soon enough she was walking out of the front doors again, met in the streets by the cautiously optimistic faces of Primm's residents as they pooled out of the Vikki and Vance. However if Ruby was expecting some exultant cheers or raucous applause she was disappointed. Many of the residents were smiling, but mostly they seemed indifferent; the wastes were a harsh place and this was the typical state of affairs. A few of the braver souls even ventured into the hotel, likely looking for whatever they could scavenge off the corpses; although Ruby had already taken all of their useful ammunition and caps.

However one resident in particular did seem sincerely thankful and Ruby soon found herself inexplicable ushered into the Nash residence before she could utter a word of protest.

"You really have done this town a great service, an' even if the others don't express it, I want you to hear it from us." The elderly man continued to gush, guiding Ruby toward a comfy-looking, if not dilapidated armchair in the corner. However Ruby resisted, her attention elsewhere as her gaze remained firmly fixed on the first thing she had noticed upon walking in. A small, round robot with many protruding antennae lay in a sorry state on a low counter. Nash finally broke off from his thanks to follow her gaze.

"Oh, I see ya' spotted ED-E right off the bat, you got a good eye on ya'."

Ruby quirked a brow. "Eddy?"

" _ED-E._ " Nash stressed, "See on the plate there?" And sure enough there was an old licence plate poorly bolted to the eye-bot's casing in what looked like a hasty repair-job. It was scorched and grimy, but '2ED-E59' was just about visible in bold white font, although the numbers could barely be made out. "'Course I never did get the thing workin', but it seemed like as good a name as any. A courier brought him in one day and I did my best to fix 'im up but-" The man seemed the catch himself rambling and saw that Ruby was barely listening anyway, her attention was on the exposed machinery visible within the robot's opened casing, her mind already picking it apart.

"You want him?" He suddenly spoke up; _that_ managed to finally snap Ruby out of her technophilic daze.

"Huh?" She muttered rather ineloquently.

"The bot, you wan'im? It's the least we could do after you saved the whole damn town. It's not like we're swimming in caps here so we can't really pay you in the traditional sense…" However the mention of pay finally reminded Ruby of why she was in Primm in the first place, making her eyes spark with realisation.

"Oh, that's right I almost forgot; do you know where I can find the Mojave express office? I remember someone telling me there was one in Primm." She said with surprising enthusiasm, catching the older man off-guard, although surprise quickly gave way to amusement.

"You're standing in it Miss Ruby." He stuck out a hand that after a moment of hesitation the redhead took. "Johnson Nash, supervisor of the Primm branch of the Mojave Express."

Ruby's eyes widened in understanding before she suddenly withdrew, her posture becoming sheepish as she rubbed a hand on the back of her head. "Oh, well that's… convenient. Um, I actually came to Primm to tell you that I'd failed a delivery." She winced, expecting indignation from the man, however all she heard was a deep, resigned sigh.

"Oh, you were on _that_ delivery." He sighed again and his wrinkles seemed to somehow deepen before Ruby's eyes. "That whole job just stank of rot if y'asked me." He sank back into the armchair he had previously been herding Ruby toward, rubbing the bridge of his nose wearily. "From what I saw Missy, it's a miracle you got off alive. A few days before those convicts rolled in I woke up to find four bodies dumped on my doorstep, all of them couriers on that job. To be honest I thought the last'n had probably kicked it too, but here you are." He grinned at that, some colour returning to his weather-beaten features.

However even as he said it Ruby's hand drifted up to her temple where she could still feel the slightly tender flesh of the scar hidden by her hairline. "Yeah, here I am I guess."

Nash's smile grew at that. "Listen, and I'd probably a' said this even if you hadn't just rolled in and saved all out lives, but don't you worry about that delivery. As far as I'm concerned I never should'a accepted it, the money was too good to be true." Ruby wasn't quite sure what to make of that but Nash wasn't quite finished. "Anyway, if you want it, take the robot; s'not like I could'a fixed 'im anyways." He looked up, grinning. "And if you stick around a bit, my wife cooks a mean radscorpion casserole." Even Ruby managed a quick smirk at that.

* * *

In the end Ruby declined the man's kind offer of dinner; staying in Primm left a rather bad taste in her mouth as her mind kept flashing back to the images of the dead convicts. No, she wanted to leave as soon as possible, so once ED-E was safely stored inside of PD's storage compartment she hit the road again. However despite the swift stride she walked with Ruby was, for the first time in a long time, rather uncertain of what to do.

It wasn't as though she could just get a new job from the Mojave express, it didn't feel right after what happened and Nash certainly wasn't in any condition to hand one out. She imagined he would be re-organising for a while yet. Still, it wasn't like she could wander aimlessly forever; eventually she would need some money. With that in mind she figured she would head back west, link up with a caravan going along the I-15 back to The Hub. There was always work there for a courier, especially if you knew who to ask.

With a destination finally set in mind Ruby managed a smile and carried on south, her gait suddenly a little more confident. The positivity didn't last long though, soon enough the sun began to droop low on the horizon and as it dropped, so did the temperature. She was looking for any kind of building on the horizon, somewhere to hunker down for the night. She was tired after the day's rather hectic events, not to mention sore from the various bruises she had received being flung into a wall by an exploding grenade.

However hope came and passed as she spotted an old and seemingly abandoned police station, the broken and rusted cars out front still bearing the distinctive black and white colour scheme. As she drew closer though it quickly became apparent it wasn't so empty. She nearly jumped out of her skin as the loud crack of a bullet sounded off inside the squat building, followed by raucous cheering.

She decided to give the building a wide berth and carry on walking after that.

Her perseverance was soon rewarded though as a very different sight met her on the horizon. What started as indistinct blobs atop a far-off ridge, hard to make out in the dimming light, soon grew into towering giants built entirely out of scrap. Twin monoliths of enormous figures reaching out to shake one another's hands. It was a familiar sight that brought a grin to Ruby's face, the monument to the Ranger unification treaty that also stood as a landmark marking out the Mojave outpost and the current boundary of NCR territory.

From here it should all be smooth-sailing.


	4. Nipped in the bud

**Vault 27 would be an experiment to see how much awesome they could fit in a single space; I of course would be the sole inhabitant. I still wouldn't own the damn thing though...**

* * *

 _"If it keeps up, man will atrophy all his limbs but the push-button finger."_ – Frank Lloyd Wright

* * *

"What do you mean I can't go through?" Ruby asked curiously, not angered so much as she was confused. It hadn't taken her long to reach the Mojave outpost but no sooner had she talked to the on-staff Major to fill out the appropriate paperwork than she had been rebuffed. The man she was talking to, a Major Knight as he had introduced himself, sighed and ran a hand beneath his beret.

"Listen…" He started, his voice that of a man who had obviously been through this conversation more than a few times today.

"Ruby." The redhead supplied cheerily.

"Listen Ruby, the outpost is chock full of caravans looking to head out west at the moment and none of them are moving either. We're backed up to the ears in paperwork and until a miracle happens nothing is moving any further west along the I-15." He sighed again, running a hand once again through his hair in what appeared to be a nervous habit. "Sorry about that." He did a least seem sincere in his apology.

Ruby huffed at the news, blowing a stray strand of crimson hair away from her eyes. "You can't even make an exception for one little courier?" She asked hopefully, although on the inside she knew it was fruitless, the NCR loved its bureaucracy more than its brahmin. The Major's disparaging look was all she needed to know.

"If that caravan out there from the Far Go Cartel doesn't have the political weight to swing that, then you certainly don't. Sorry, you'll be here at least three days if you want to get out those gates." As Ruby moved to leave though he glanced back up from his paperwork. "There's a canteen, a bar and a barracks in the other building, talk to Lacey if you want to stay the night." And with that he returned to sorting out the bureaucratic nightmare on his desk.

The temperature had noticeably dropped outside and Ruby found herself hurrying across to the adjacent building, rubbing her arms fruitlessly to ward off the chill. She figured she'd take the Major up on that offer, there'd be no more travelling this late. Moving through the wasteland at night was far more dangerous than in the day; the cold slowed you down and the dark hid all sorts of people and creatures with less than noble intentions.

Lacey, the somewhat stern-faced barkeeper within the barracks, proved to be accommodating, if not all that warm. If anything she looked even more harried than the poor Major as she chatted with Ruby between rushing to serve various merchants and NCR troops their drinks. She offered a game of caravan but Ruby professed to never having learned the rules; after that the dour-faced woman seemed to lose interest and returned to serving a red-cheeked young woman surrounded by a few too many empty bottles of whiskey.

It wasn't hard to negotiate a reasonable price for a bed and soon the morning light streaming in through the dirt-encrusted windows was bringing her back to the waking world. Carefully climbing down off the bunk to avoid the very same young woman she had noticed the previous evening, snoring contentedly beneath her, she had soon packed up, said her quick goodbyes to Lacey and was back in front of the somewhat less-stressed Major once again. She wasn't going to wait around for three whole days just to head west, and that meant finding work.

"You'll want to talk to Ranger Jackson, you can probably find him in the back rooms; he handles the commissions and contractors that come through here." The officer informed her drolly, nursing a cup of coffee like it was a lifeline. He appeared quite anxious to be rid of her so he could return to attacking his small, but growing mountain of paperwork. She obliged and found the aforementioned Ranger fiddling with a bulky ham radio; he also had a steaming coffee next to him. Ruby never really liked the bitter drink, much preferring a fresh Nuka Cola to wake her up.

"Ah, Ranger Jackson?" She inquired, making the man turn and regard her from behind a pair of tinted shades. Instead of answering he simply raised an eyebrow expectantly. "I'm Ruby, I was told to come to you for work."

He continued to stare at her evenly for a good few moments before finally grunting, "What do you do?" In a gruff, no-nonsense tone that seemed fairly common among Rangers.

"I'm a courier." She answered quickly, trying not to look too intimidated; Rangers always freaked her out a bit; she'd heard stories…

His gaze seemed to flick about her person for a moment, taking in her slight build, the various tools around her body and the vault markings on her jumpsuit before finally resting on the laser pistol that hung on her hip. "Well, there's a bit of an ant problem down the way, if you feel like takin' out some pests."

Ruby was silent for a moment before coughing into her hand lightly. "Ah, you did hear courier right? Not exterminator." She saw the man's brow raise slightly and the very edges of his mouth twinge into what might have been a smirk before it was gone.

"Sorry, thought for a moment you looked like you could handle yourself against a couple a' big bugs; my mistake." He glanced behind him on the desk and seemed to consider something. "Alright then, I got a missive I need delivered to Searchlight, we haven't been getting the usual check-ins recently and I need to know what's going on. Think you can handle that?" Much of the previous sternness had left his voice.

Ruby gave him a cheeky salute in response. "No problem." The man simply nodded as if he hadn't seen that and handed her the sealed letter along with a quickly scrawled slip of paper. "Can't pay you here, haven't got the supplies at the moment, but show that to Searchlight's quartermaster and they'll compensate you." And just like that the conversation was over; his tone dismissed her and was soon back to fiddling with his radio. It looked as though he was searching for a particular frequency.

Ruby quashed her curiosity though and hurried back outside where the rays of the early morning sun were streaming over the mountains to the east. It was still a bit chilly though and she zipped her vault suit up a little tighter as she collected PD from where she had left him, propped against the side of the barracks. Anyone trying to steal him would have received a nasty surprise that made Ruby smirk for a moment before she nearly jumped out of her skin as a voice spoke up from directly behind her.

"You heading East?" Her voice, soft like a whisper, clashed horribly with the apathetic expression she wore. Ruby barely had time to take that in though as she jumped back a few paces in surprise, clutching at her heart with wide eyes. The woman just seemed to melt right out of the shadows cast by one of the monolithic statues. Despite her pale skin and snowy hair giving her the appearance of an albino she seemed to blend into the darkness like it was a second skin.

"What?" Ruby managed to finally gasp out after the genuine fear for her life abated; hadn't this woman heard of normal greetings? Although now that she got the chance to look it was clear this woman was another Ranger; they didn't seem to _do_ normal.

"Sorry." She drawled, sounding about as sincere as a snake as she glanced disinterestedly toward the horizon. "So, are you going East?"

Having managed to compose herself somewhat Ruby nodded warily. "To Searchlight, yeah."

The Ranger nodded, still staring east as though Ruby wasn't even there. "Then you'll be passing through Nipton." Ruby vaguely recognised the name; she might have passed through the town before. The Ranger seemed certain though so she just shrugged. "Good, I want you to check something for me then." Ruby's eyebrow twitched slightly at the soft but commanding tone. Now that she had gotten over her initial shock she was becoming increasingly annoyed with the Ranger.

"I can pay." The pale woman intoned boredly, as if predicting Ruby's thoughts. She jangled a bag of caps that seemed to just appear in her hand and tossed it over to the redhead. She caught it deftly, managing to hide her surprise at her weight, there was probably a hundred and fifty caps in there. She briefly considered that she was in the wrong line of work if Rangers could toss away this much money like it was nothing.

"Well? Are you going to do it?" The woman drawled, breaking into Ruby's introspection.

"What do you need me to do?" She queried, unable to completely hide the small crack in her voice. A hundred and fifty caps would last her a while on the road; she might even be able to buy some proper tools.

"I spotted smoke in my scope this morning, looked as though it was coming from Nipton." She intoned after staring at the young technophile for a few moments. "We have men from the outpost on leave there, I imagine they've drunk too much and gotten too rowdy, but I'd like to be sure. When you pass through, find one of them and tell them to contact me on their radio; Ranger Ghost, they'll know it." However Ruby didn't ponder the aptness of her name for too long as her brow furrowed.

Something wasn't right about this; if Ghost really did just want her to check on a few rowdy soldiers she wouldn't be paying nearly this much. That meant the Ranger suspected there might be something worse happening in Nipton, and if a Ranger was concerned it only meant one thing; the Legion. It was a constant malicious presence in the minds of everyone in the Mojave, like an invisible pressure weighing down on the desert. However Ruby had thought they were mostly contained behind the Colorado, never mind this far west.

Ruby grimaced, Caesar's legion had never sat well with her and the thought of potentially walking right into their midst wasn't exactly an exciting prospect. Now the reason for the money became clear, she almost wanted to give it back; almost. Unfortunately she was still heading that way, and she did need the money. Eventually that need won out and she nodded grimly; Ghost noticed and seemed to instantly follow her line of thinking.

"Like I said, it's probably a bunch of rowdy soldiers that have forgotten they're not in Vegas." She paused, a sense of calm resignation entering her tone. "But, if I don't hear word on the radio by midday I will assume the worst." Ruby couldn't even express how uncomforted she was by those words. "However, think about reneging on the agreement, skipping out on the town and keeping the money, you will quickly find that the NCR Rangers can hold a grudge." Her voice was hard as flint and Ruby could almost feel her gaze burning her from behind the mirrored aviator sunglasses.

The redhead managed a weak nod and Ghost, seeing that she had made her point, grunted in affirmation. "Good, carry on then." It must have been a trait of all Rangers to be so dismissive as, without another word, she simply stalked off, quiet as a shadow. However it did give Ruby a wonderful view of the sniper rifle hanging off her back, scope glinting in the early light.

* * *

Based on her Pip-boy map it was around a two hour walk to Nipton which suited Ruby just fine. She tinkered with ED-E as she walked, using PD as a mobile table as she attempted to fix up the worst of the damage the abused little robot had suffered. It really had been through the ringer, bullet holes littering its casing while the rest was littered with the signs of hasty patch-jobs. It seemed some kind of high-calibre round had finally finished the job, perhaps some bored bandits or soldiers using the floating bot as target practise.

All the same it wasn't unfixable, but most would have written it off by now. It was a good thing Ruby enjoyed a challenge. Mostly she busied herself making sure all the wiring was correct and undamaged, replacing what was. The casing would be harder to fix; it would be more likely that she ended up replacing it entirely. The small energy weapon mounted to its front was also rather interesting, mostly because Ruby had never seen one like it.

However she could only busy herself with the technology in her hands for so long before her thoughts began to drift toward Nipton. She wondered constantly what she would find there; maybe a bonfire surrounded by soldiers singing in off-key drunken slurs. Then again she could find the entire town ablaze, fires raging through the buildings and streets and huge plumes of smoke rising into the sky.

No. No she steadily convinced herself that if that was the case she would have seen something by now. If Ghost could spot smoke through her sniper scope surely she would be able to see something at this point? This newfound confidence lasted for another half-hour of happy tinkering before further doubts began to creep in. She kept imagining she saw a glow on the quivering horizon, but it always turned out to be a trick of the light, a strange warp in the air caused by the heat rising off the cracked tarmac. Still, the doubts remained with her and eventually she found she couldn't even muster the energy to work on ED-E anymore.

She knew when she was nearing the town when, finally, she saw plumes of billowy grey smoke rising into the air, quickly whipped away by the morning winds. Her stomach sank with every step, and by the time she reached the town itself, where she could hear the distant crackle of fire, nagging voices in her head were telling her run the other direction as fast as she could. Yet she pressed on, moving slowly through the streets, hoping for a small sign that her fear were unfounded and these really were just bonfires.

Her hopes were quenched with a sickening finality when she found the first, a pile of tires and wood haphazardly strewn across the street billowing orange flames and acrid grey smoke. However what made her heart sink were the blackened bones carelessly tossed across the makeshift pyre. By now the stench of burning flesh was rich in the air, making Ruby queasy as she shuffled around the fire, no thoughts on her mind other than to get as far away from this town as possible.

It was in her haste that she missed the figure darting out of the shadows of a nearby building. Swiftly and without warning the back of her knees were kicked out from under her. Before she hit the ground though a hand roughly grabbed the back of her pony-tail, forcing her to kneel as a blade was placed at her throat. It came so suddenly that Ruby didn't even have time to think, at least until the blade pressed a little deeper, drawing a thin red line across her pale neck.

"Tell metal man stop." A gruff, stilted voice growled from behind her, sounding muffled as if spoken through a mask. Again she only felt confusion and again the cold metal served as a stark reminder of what was happening. Through her own stifled sobs that came without her control and the tears blurring her vision she spotted PD's arm raised toward her, wavering uncertainly. No, no it was pointed at the man holding her hostage, she was just in the way.

PD couldn't hurt her, that was one of the very first things she had programmed into the machine, even if she released all of its safeties it still would not be able to attack her; at least as long as it could recognise her. Its programming must have been running horrendous loops trying to think of a solution, but Ruby didn't want to let that happen. None of the Securitron's weapons were terribly precise, she didn't fancy her chances if PD decided it could risk it. Sure enough the barrel of its Gatling laser began to wind up with a recognisable buzz.

"Override: click click!" She called out quickly and like a switch had been flipped, PD's weapons wound down again. It remained motionless, blankly staring forward now awaiting input. Ruby would have breathed a sigh of release if she wasn't trying to limit how close the blade was to her throat. It seemed moot though as she was suddenly and roughly pulled around so that she was facing down the main high street of the small town.

It was a sickening sight.

Enormous crosses, thrown together from wooden beams, fence posts or even telephone poles, lined the length of the street, Ruby couldn't even count them all through her blurry vision. On every single one hung a man or woman, legs bound by rope, nails brutally driven through their hands. Most heads hung forward limply, probably dead, or wishing they were. Others struggled piteously, whimpering with every movement that tugged at their restraints.

A thoughtful hum broke her from the grisly sight as a man seemed to melt out of the shadows nearby. "I have never seen somebody command a Securitron in such a way, and that vault suit… You are an interesting one." He commented idly, his voice smooth and sure of itself.

Ruby gulped unintentionally, wincing as the blade at her throat dug that little bit deeper. The armour that looked like reinforced football padding, the short apron composed of leather strips, the coyote skin that adorned his head; she knew that armour from the descriptions and propaganda posters.

The legion.

Without her consent new tears began to stream down her cheeks; she was going to be killed here, or made a slave, or strung up like the rest of these people. She was so adamant in her beliefs that her ability to cheat death wouldn't hold a second time that she didn't even hear the dog-scarfed man order her release. She fell forward ungracefully onto the dusty tarmac, a strangled yelp escaping her throat. She lay there for a few moments, uncertain if she was about to be shot in the back or if this was some cruel ploy to give her hope. She might have even called out to PD again if she wasn't certain the first syllable would also be her last.

Instead she meekly scrabbled to her feet, glancing about warily as more Legion soldiers emerged from their hiding places, around a dozen in total. There were a few agonizing moment of silence where the surrounding soldiers eyed her with varying levels of hostility or disgust; however nobody made a move. They all kept glancing towards the first man with the silky voice, their apparent leader.

"What do you think of what you see here?" He suddenly questioned, and it took a moment before Ruby realised he was talking to her. His voice had a strange, lulling quality yet at the same time a certain inherent condescension, as though he were talking to a small child. She realised she had been quiet for an awkward couple of seconds and it took him gesturing behind him to the crucified victim to snap her out of her daze.

"It's disgusting." Ruby winced even as the last syllable tumbled from her mouth; she hadn't meant to say that at all it had just… come out. If she wasn't sure before, now she was _certain_ that she was going to die. However the man simply hummed thoughtfully.

"Quite, a fitting end for such filthy dissolute; justice rarely allows such ironic endings." He mused, more to himself than to her it seemed, although with the thick, visor-like sunglasses obscuring his eyes it was difficult to tell. "Nevertheless it will send a powerful message; that is enough."

Ruby wasn't sure if it was the adrenaline suddenly coursing through her veins or a strange disconnect that had taken place in her body, but she found her lips moving before she even realised what she was saying. "Not much of a message when there are no NCR up there." It was true, now that she couldn't look anywhere else, it was difficult not to notice the lack of familiar tan uniforms strung up alongside the town's residents.

The man however, looked amused. "You think this a message to the NCR? No, those profligates lie in pools of their own blood, throats slit in their sleep. Our message to the NCR is the looming sigil of the bull that dawns on them from the east. It is in the wearied soldiers that continue to grow disillusioned with their bureaucratic war. The NCR already know our message, our mere presence here is good enough for _that_."

Ruby found herself growing almost physically sickened the more she heard. "But then… why?" Her eyes raked the groaning victims strung up on their gruesome effigies; she was sure that at this point even taking them down would kill them; the nails holding them in place seemed to be stifling the blood loss.

"This, is a message to the Mojave." The man elaborated smoothly, the beginnings of a smile pulling at the edges of his lips. The pride at the atrocities he had committed was evident. "The two-headed bear offers annexation under the pretence of security, offering safety to this barren's land's people. We are simply reminded them that their meagre claims will mean nothing when the full weight of Caesar's legion tears across their land." He paused, as if realising he had gotten slightly carried away; instead he turned his attention firmly on Ruby, eyes slowly travelling her form in a way that made her distinctly uncomfortable.

"Before you were forced to submit you held yourself with the bearing of a frumentarius." A few of the soldiers around them looked visibly angry at the comparison, although Ruby had only a vague inkling of the word. She knew a little about the Roman Empire from classes in the vault, but History often took a backseat behind science, mechanics, math and physics; more pertinent subjects. "You are a messenger of some kind, used to walking the land?" Once again it took her a moment to realise she was being addressed directly.

"Courier." She admitted reluctantly; answering his questions was a lot better than having her throat slit to bleed out on the sand.

The man nodded appraisingly. "Yes, many of my frumentarii bear such titles in their forays west and south. Perhaps you have walked Caesar's land, seen for yourself the safety and order his rule has brought?" Ruby shook her head jerkily, not trusting her mouth at the moment. "A pity, perhaps then you would have been able to see past the seemingly barbaric method to the stark honesty our punishment represents." He shrugged uncommitted, obviously unconcerned.

"In any case you will do; be thankful courier, you retain your life her today so that you can bear the message we have wrought here to the rest of this land." With that he made an unfamiliar hand gesture and the surrounding soldiers immediately pulled back, sheathing their weapons and falling into neat ranks. They began a swift march west, headed back the direction Ruby had come from, however their leader remained for a moment, still regarding her with what might have been curiosity.

"I would know your name dissolute." He asked slowly, although it may have been more a command; his lilting, pleasant voice made it questionable.

"Why?" That time Ruby _couldn't_ help herself, the bitterness in her tone coming through all too clearly. Once again though the man only seemed amused.

"It is a frumentarius' business to know things, and I have a feeling you will grow into something someday. What I cannot say, but I have lived long enough to trust this instinct." He admitted casually, as though talking to a long-time friend.

"Ruby." She admitted cautiously; for some reason the idea of lying to the silky-voiced man made her uneasy, as if he would just _know._

He nodded with a mocking smirk. "Vulpes Inculta, I do hope our paths cross again, I'm sure it will be… interesting." He offered the slightest inclination of his head before walking off to catch up with his troops, honeyed voice drifting back on the wind. "Ave courier."

Ruby didn't move until she could no longer see their retreating backs against the horizon, she didn't dare to. It was only when she released a deep breath she hadn't realised she had been holding did full control return to her. Tiredly, and with a great deal of relief, she flopped to the floor as though every one of her bones had been simultaneously plucked from her body. It was the steady squeak of PD's tire as the robots slowly swayed on the spot that finally snapped her out of it.

"Override: click boom." She muttered hoarsely, realising for the first time how painful it was to speak; with every movement of her throat the thin line across her neck released another scarlet dribble. Those override codes had been so funny when she had first thought them up; she hadn't been expecting their first use to be so… that.

She slowly picked herself up before rummaging around in her pack for something to tie up her neck with, at least to staunch the bleeding. She had no bandages so had to settle for a grey cloth that had been wrapped around some Brahmin jerky. She actually felt a little better after that, at least until she turned around and spotted the street of crucifixions again. The sight made her stomach churn again and she quickly averted her eyes, her feet already shuffling away from the gruesome road.

It wasn't particularly heroic, she didn't even look back as she walked east out of the town, head bowed and feet continually moving forward. She just wanted to be as far away from those legionnaires as physically possible. It was only when she nearly bumped into a road sign did she finally look up and by then Nipton was just a hazy silhouette on the horizon. An involuntary sigh escaped her throat just in time for her to feel immediately guilty about it.

A part of her mind genuinely thought about going back, finding some way to help those people. However try as she might her feet would simply not turn around. She reasoned with herself that Vulpes and his soldiers were likely long gone, off to terrorise more towns further west. However her legs weren't feeling all that rational. Eventually, and with a tarnished conscience, Ruby did her best to put the events of Nipton out of her mind and keep moving on, trudging steadily in the direction her Pip-boy told her Searchlight lay in.

It was difficult though, the feeling of that machete held against her skin was refreshed in her mind with every step as the makeshift bandage rubbed her neck. Thankfully something came along to take her mind off it, otherwise she might have spent the rest of the trip working her mind into a frenzied frustration. The wide highway she had been following curved to the left, heading up north and in a split second decision she simply walked off it, continuing on straight across the open desert.

Most advised against such recklessness in the wastes, citing the roads as the few 'safe' places to walk. However Ruby just wanted to get this cursed job out of the way; it just seemed like bad money after bad money with her recently. So she pushed on, ready to get them behind her and hopefully forgotten.

That was how she found herself stumbling through a sandstorm not an hour later out in the middle of blasted nowhere. She could only see a good five feet in any direction and was completely reliant on her flickering Pip-boy map to keep her on the right path. Even that was proving unreliable though as she was having to squint through bleary, strained eyes to make anything out. She was almost certain she was still moving east though… maybe.

It was the whir of machinery that first let her know something was wrong, although the sudden whine of building energy was also a good indicator.

"Ya' better run ya' commie loving bastard."

Ruby dived to the floor just as the heavily synthesised voice cut through the howling winds at the same moment a virulent streak of bright green plasma did, sizzling through the space her head had just occupied. She rolled again, more on instinct this time and waited for the tell-tale whine of PD's return fire. When it never came Ruby chanced a look up and saw the hulking Securitron standing there quite placidly, blankly staring ahead.

She blinked in confusion before ducking as she heard the plasma weapon wind up again, however this time it sounded as though it was facing away from her. Sure enough when she opened her eyes she saw a neon bolt streak away from her. At its source, a Type-II Mr Gutsy.

"What is-is-is-is you're major ma-ma-malfunction maggot!" A rather badly damaged Mr Gutsy it would seem.

Carefully and slowly Ruby rose to her feet, scrutinising the twitching machine that seemed to be floating around in a wonky circle, firing off random spouts of dialogue and bolts of plasma alike. However she saw the caution was unnecessary; one of its sensors was completely missing and the other two hung limply at its side, fizzling pathetically. It was curious though, other than a few dents and the aforementioned sensor damage the machine was perfectly fine.

She didn't get much more time for scrutinising though as suddenly the hovering robot took off at an alarming pace. Not one to allow her curiosity to drop so easily Ruby took off after it, PD squeaking along on her heels. As she ran, using the sickly green bolts and occasional bursts of anti-communist propaganda to keep track of the speedy machine, the sandstorm around her started to clear up until finally she could actually see more than a few feet in front of her.

The poor redhead couldn't believe her eyes though as she crested what she had initially thought to be a ridge, only to realise it was simply the edge of an enormous trench gouged out of the earth.

By what?

The large and almost perfectly intact vertibird not twenty feet away from her.


	5. Radical solutions

**I don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't... not own Fallout.**

* * *

 _"_ _The technology keeps moving forward, which makes it easier for the artists to tell their stories and paint the pictures they want._ _"_ – George Lucas

* * *

Ruby's knees felt weak as she stared at the magnificent craft, half-submerged as it was in sand and its own crater. Sunlight glinted off its gunmetal-grey hull as the surrounding sandstorm began to ease up, revealing its full profile. It really was an elegant creature, with a streamlined body and two protruding mounts for the six-blade propellers, each boasting almost 180° rotation for full VTOL take-off and landing.

It was only when Ruby realised a small stream of saliva was steadily escaping her mouth that she came back to her senses, eagerly sliding down into the artificial trench. To her mild disappointment a closer inspection revealed the craft wasn't in nearly as good a condition as she had thought. Half the craft itself was buried in sand, including most of the left side and the entire cockpit. Not only that, but the right propeller mount was hanging off the body at an awkward angle.

Everywhere she looked a different system or mechanism seemed to fizzle or spark; although on the bright side it meant the vehicle still had power. Ruby was always one to look for the silver lining. Most dissapointingly though, the door mechanism seemed to have jammed, meaning she couldn't even have a poke around the interior. Here was a perfect specimen of cutting-edge pre-war tech and Ruby didn't even have the tools to do anything with it; nothing was more infuriating.

Sighing in defeat, the redhead flopped back onto the side of the trench, crossing her arms petulantly and kicking out at the floor. "Dammit, stupid pilot; you couldn't have crashed a little better?" A low growl rose in her throat until she was ripped from her brooding by the squeak of PD's tire as her metal bodyguard finally caught up. The blank screen now seemed to be taunting her as it stared lifelessly at the damaged 'Bird.

"Well what am I supposed to do? I don't even have the parts to fix this thing even if I did have the tools!" She shouted at the unmoving machine. "Do you even know how few places would even have replacement parts for a vertibird? That would have been hard _before_ the nuclear apocalypse." The Securitron merely tilted a little, not recognising a valid command. "Not to mention how much it would cost!" She was met with nothing but the slight click of PD's pincers.

"Well sure I could get a job, people are always looking for mechanics…" She grumbled petulantly. "But out here?" PD tilted slightly, a strong breeze catching its body. "Actually you're right, there was that one town… the one with the dinosaur; that's around here somewhere." She mused, brows knitting together thoughtfully. "But why would I take the time to fix up this junker anyway?" She reasoned to nobody in particular.

This time she really was met by silence as PD stared forward, still as a statue.

With a heavy sigh Ruby's shoulders slumped in defeat before quickly perking up as she bounced to her feet. "Ahh PD, you know me too well." She cracked her neck and took another longing look at the half-buried craft. "I do love challenge." Plus, who didn't want their own vertibird? "Alright, you've convinced me; we'll finish this delivery to Searchlight then go looking for some work. We'll scrounge up the caps for this eventually..."

Or at least she could hope as much as she walked past the bot, patting its shoulder mountings fondly. "Don't know what I'd do without you PD, it's like you're my voice of reason." However she paused at the lip of the crater, frowning back at the broken vertibird. "Still…" There was the small matter of keeping the wreck safe. Sure nobody else had found it yet, but it was only a matter of time before some enterprising scavenger stumbled across it and decided it would make good scrap.

"Have a taste of hot plasma you c-c-commie sunovabitch!"

A veritable devil of a smirk grew across Ruby's lips as she looked back at the malfunctioning Mr Gutsy, still moving erratically and spouting off its faulty propaganda. If she could reprogram it to…

She had to pause mid-thought as the sandstorm cleared up a little more, revealing the silhouettes of some prone forms. She couldn't honestly believe her luck; the vertibird must have been carrying a cargo of robots when it crashed because strewn in its wake were half a dozen of the machines. None of them looked particularly damaged either, likely deactivated for transit. If she could reactivate them then she'd have a veritable guard of honour for the wreck.

An almost predatory gleam in her eye joined the smirk as she moved toward the closest bot. If PD had feelings he surely would have been worried for the chastity of his deactivated comrades.

* * *

Ruby couldn't help the smirk that tugged at her lips as she idly flipped a wrench from hand to hand. Suddenly the sweltering desert heat and the last dregs of the now petering-out sandstorm couldn't bother her. Fixing the robots up into fighting shape hadn't been hard at all, in fact most had little to no damage at all. It was just a simply matter of booting them up after copying PD's IFF over to their programming and removing their combat inhibitors. Right now she was the only person they recognised as a friendly; that would be a nasty surprise for any prying prospectors.

It was a little sad having to walk away from the vertibird, however she felt she had left it in good hands. When she was playing about with the deactivated robots she couldn't help but notice they were built out of some denser, heavier alloy that the usual models. It would explain why they had taken little damage from the fall, but little else. Aside from being a little 'tougher' though there hadn't been all that much difference from the standard. Perhaps some kinds of prototypes?

It was a fun idea to toss about in her head as she meandered north-eastward. Visibility had cleared up again and she noticed she had been thrown quite a bit off course. She was back on track now though and heading toward Searchlight. However that prospect looked increasingly grim and all the thoughts of prototype technology couldn't distract her from the fact the air was gaining a decidedly greenish tinge.

She ploughed on though, after all her Geiger-counter hadn't made so much as a-

' _Clckclck clckclckcrrrrclckclck crrrclckclckclck'_

Scratch that, her Pip-boy suddenly emitted a small symphony of unsettling clicks as she quickly backpedalled out of the radiation zone. Only once the detector stopped having a small fit did she feel safe enough to take a deep breath and reconsider. She could now see the outline of a small town that was no doubt Searchlight. Unfortunately it was bathed in a sickly green miasma that, thanks to her Pip-boy, she was now certain was highly irradiated.

Prospects now rather bleak, she began to skirt the town, mostly heading north in search of some kind of civilisation. Occasionally she would drift toward the town, hoping that it was a faulty detector, but sure enough the steady clicks from her wrist drove her right back out again. At least now she knew why the Mojave Outpost had stopped receiving updates from here, something terrible must have happened.

Finally she found a small patrol of NCR troopers who also seemed to be skirting the edge of the radiation zone. However her welcome was less than warm as she found a few battered service rifles suddenly pointed her way. She didn't think her arms could reach any higher as she attempted not to make a single threatening movement.

"Who are you and what is your intention?" A brisk voice commanded from somewhere in the line-up; since they were all either wearing gas masks or thick wrappings it was difficult to tell.

"Courier!" Uncomfortably aware that if they made any more hostile moves towards her then PD would likely take action; she didn't want to call him off either in case they took that as a threat. Even she couldn't activate VATs before they got at least a few rounds off. Viewing her own inevitable death in super slow-motion was _not_ on her to-do list. "I'm just delivering… something." Now that she actually thought about it she wasn't entirely sure what Ranger Jackson had asked her to deliver and her answer came out rather… lame.

After a few tense moments, the man she guessed had spoken, with a dark complexion and an air of authority about him, lowered his rifle slightly and the rest quickly followed suit. "Alright, come with us; but any funny business and we won't hesitate." There was a steel in his voice and Ruby was under no illusions that he wouldn't go through with the threat so she kept her arms by her side and followed them at a sedate place.

They led her back to what looked like a hastily-erected camp with a few sandbag walls and a single, weather-beaten tent. The group dispersed with practised ease and soon Ruby was left alone with the dark-skinned man in the tent as he took a seat in front of a beaten-up radio.

"You said you had a message?" His voice jolted Ruby out of staring at the sorry-looking piece of equipment.

"Ah right." She fumbled in her pockets for the letter before quickly handing it over. In a quick motion the man, a Sergeant now that she got a look at his epaulets, slit it open and quickly scanned it.

"I thought as much." He grunted, tossing the small note onto the table before looking up at Ruby who just stood there uncertainly. "What are you still doing here?" She handed over the other note she had gotten from the ranger only to see the man sigh with irritation as soon as he caught a glimpse. "Look, if you hadn't noticed we're in a bit of a situation out here; we don't exactly have the supplies to pay you right now."

Ruby just took a glance out the tent flap, just about able to make out the green-tinted sky. "Yeah, what exactly _did_ happen here?" She turned back to see the Sergeant massaging the bridge of his nose, his face adopting a grim expression.

"The damn Legion happened here." The grimace they shared was almost identical. "They set off some kind of nuclear weapon in the middle of the bloody town." He sighed wearily, eyes drifting over to a stack of papers on the desk. "Half our people were lethally irradiated almost instantly, most of the rest quickly showed signs of ghoulification and we were forced to abandon the place with what supplies we could grab. The people who brought you here were the only survivors of a nearly forty-strong platoon."

The redhead's eyes widened, that was a crippling loss; news like that never reached out west and now that she heard it she understood why. This kind of stuff was heavily demoralizing. "How did they even…" She couldn't even finish, just staring forward in astonishment, trying to wrap her head around that many people dying so fast.

"They might be savages in combat with their spears and sloppy chains of command but those Greek-loving bastards can be damn sneaky when it calls for it." He growled lowly; Ruby didn't even bother to correct him, she was so taken aback.

The Sergeant was the first to recover as he glanced back down at the payment slip, slapping it down on the table and making Ruby jump a little. "Anyway, if you head up to camp McCarren they'll be able to sort out some payment. Until we get the radio repaired we can't even re-stock ourselves."

Latching onto something she knew about Ruby jumped on the titbit. "What's wrong with the radio?" The Sergeant just stared her with an even gaze, colouring her cheeks slightly. "Ah, right, radiation." She tried not to let the awkward silence hang in the air too long. "I could probably fix that if you give me half an hour." Radiation damage was a fairly common problem back in the vault.

The man just raised a brow at her though. "I thought you said you were a courier?"

She shrugged sheepishly. "It's a living, but I'm a machinist by trade." Not that she ever had much of a choice coming from Vault 53.

"Alright." He finally conceded after a few moments scrutinising the redhead. "I'll give you thirty minutes." And with that he gave her a quick nod and headed out the tent, but not before pausing at the entrance as if on an afterthought. "First-Sergeant Astor." He grunted; it did not look like a comfortable gesture.

Ruby smiled weakly at the attempt all the same. "Ruby."

The man threw another curt nod her way. "If you do manage to fix that thing, I'll try and remember that."

And that was how the young mechanic found herself carefully prying off the top of an old HAM radio that had seen far too much service to feasibly still be working. It was comfortable and familiar territory though and she was quickly able to identify the problem. What was _not_ comfortable was the young private straddling the chair nearby, chewing on a ration-bar as he watched her work.

"…and then he goes off with the last box of our ammunition, comes back two hours later with an entire crate. To date he's never actually told us what the hell he did, just gets this annoyingly smug grin."

He had been talking almost non-stop since he had entered the tent and spotted her working on the radio; in fact Ruby was almost certain this guy didn't have an off switch.

"But I mean, that's just Johnny, you should hear some of the stories the other guys have. I mean, if you ask me, all the best stories are about Jack, Jack's stories are the best."

The redhead really wished for some peace and quiet, she had some delicate repairs to take care of, radiation damage was an awkward thing for electronics.

"He's our resident fix-all, Jack is. Hell, he even took a crack at that there radio and couldn't do scratch about it."

Well that would explain the signs of an amateur's tampering, loads of replaced parts and not an actual repair in sight.

"And I mean, I seen Jack fix a lot of things in my time and once he even swore he helped bring an old truck back up to scratch."

Radiation damage was a lot like EMP damage, short circuiting electronics by ionising the components. However radiation lingered, all of the parts needed to be cleaned.

"Says he learned it all from his gramps, Smitty; but I mean, he can't mean _the_ Smitty right? That guy's just a legend, like the Vault Dweller, but for mechanics."

Ruby carefully began to pour the contents of a Radaway bag out onto the old fission battery, watching with satisfaction as it almost immediately vaporised. With an old cloth she caught as much of the vapour she could and set to work wiping down everything in sight.

"But I mean, I bet you've heard of ol' Smitty, people in Klamath never seem to shut up about him right?"

A few of the cathode tubes needed replacing, their filaments burnt out and their gas too ionised to be of use, but there was no shortage of spares; she just moved her Pip-boy over them until she found the least irradiated.

"But sometimes you know, I think Jack's a bit full of it; then he goes and does something really cool and it's like I could never doubt him. I mean, if he couldn't fix that radio; I don't think you got a snowball's chance in Dayglow miss-" The young private paused, broken out of his one-sided monologue as Ruby stood up, carefully replacing the casing of the radio. She cracked her back before grinning as she flicked the radio on, watching with satisfaction as it whirred to life.

"There, done." She announced, immediately walking out to go find Sergeant Astor. The young private was left blinking in surprise, gaze alternating between the now perfectly working radio and where the speedy mechanic had been crouched.

"W-Wait? How'd you do that?"

* * *

The First-sergeant had been surprisingly gracious after the news of the repair. It seemed the unexpected turn in fortune had gone some way to dissuade his pessimism. Thanking her in a much more pleasant demeanour that he had greeted her, he sent her on her way with a handful of stimpacks and as much scrap as she could carry. He simply cited that, with communications available again, they could finally order in a re-supply.

It wasn't caps, but it was all they could offer at the time and Ruby was grateful nonetheless; stimpacks were good to trade and the scrap electronics and components would help with future repairs. They had even been kind enough to escort her part of the way to the next town, Novac, as part of their patrol. Because of that, there was a bounce in her step as the instantly recognisable dinosaur came into view from behind a large rocky outcropping.

However that good mood quickly soured as she spotted a familiar and un-welcome face seemingly waiting for her outside the gates of the town's name-sake hotel.

"Well howdy there little Miss, fancy running into you all the way out here." The tinny voice of none other than Victor greeted, a tad-too mirthfully considering their last encounter,

"Victor." The redhead returned, her voice already gaining an exasperated edge. "So this is where your personality matrix jumped to after your… accident." For just a moment Ruby could have sworn the Securitron's face flickered to something else that didn't look quite as friendly as the grinning cowboy. She ignored it, gaining a smirk of her own as she moved to lean against PD in a taunting manner. "Come to deliver me another Securitron?"

"It doesn't suit you to act so cocky Miss, fool me once an' all." He asserted, with what Ruby thought a little too much smugness for an artificial program. "I reckon you wouldn't be able to pull that same trick twice."

Ruby just decided to take his word for it; likely Victor's creator had uploaded a list of known paradoxes to avoid. It was one of the simpler ways of getting around the problem. She could have stood there and tried all the ones she knew, and she knew a lot, but it wasn't worth it. She didn't want to antagonise a person with an obviously vested interest in her, as well as what appeared to be at least a few of these powerful machines. Besides, she already had PD and he was just fine as a bodyguard… or would be when she finished programming him.

"So what do you want Vic?"

The robot tilted slightly. "Why I don't know quite what you mean Miss, this is just a happy little happenstance us bein' round these parts at the same time." Ruby simply raised an eyebrow. "All the same it's nice to see you're doin' just fine." The corny robot turned to PD. "And as for your friend here…"

Suddenly Ruby's Pip-boy began to light up as lines upon lines of text scrolled across at a thunderous pace. However when she looked down at it she couldn't help but laugh. Not a moment later the screen flashed red once and Vic was left looking as perturbed as he could be with a static image for a face. The grin on the redhead's lips though was positively devilish.

"Vic… did you really think I'd leave that mainframe connection wide open for anybody to waltz through?" She straightened back up from leaning on PD and patted him fondly on the arm. "I've grown rather fond of PD, so you won't be walking off with him today."

Once again for just a split second Victor's image seemed to flicker to something else, but it was back to its usual corny visage not a moment later. "Now Miss, that there ain't your property."

Ruby shrugged. "Law of the wastes; I believe the pre-war adage goes: finders keepers?"

"Listen now, the VIP you're antagonisin' right now ain't one to-" Vic was cut off though as his screen suddenly fizzled, limbs twitching awkwardly for a few moments before he regained control. Ruby's smirk only grew as he hand moved away from her Pip-boy.

"Hey, what do ya know; just because I close off mainframe access from you, apparently doesn't mean you lock it down it from your end. The boss getting a bit cocky?" She mused impishly, pouted lip and all. "I guess H&H Tools Company thinks the savages of the wastes could never hack into their systems." However she seemed to have said something wrong as the somewhat nervous Victor suddenly drew up to his full height, tone now decidedly imperious.

"You don't even know who ya'll are messing with girlie." And with that he wheeled off at a furious pace, vanishing around the side of the town and allowing Ruby to breathe a sigh of relief. She had miscalculated, hoping to throw Vic even further off-kilter by naming his boss. Obvious H&H were just the manufacturers and this went a lot higher; She shook the grimace from her features though and instead turned to look at Novac, putting the incident behind her for now. After all, her dad always said: 'Breaking something today just means another thing to fix, and that's what you're good at.'

Novac itself turned out to be a surprisingly pleasant place for a frontier town so close to the warring Colorado. She didn't get the usual distrustful looks she might have received north of Arroyo or even up in Utah. In short order she was able to rent a room at the motel from the friendly owner, relax for a short while to forget about the day's craziness, and get some much needed sleep. Her last thoughts were of what she would do the next day, but no real plans were made before exhaustion took over and she fell into sweet, dreamless oblivion.

* * *

Finding work the next morning proved rather easy which, with her earlier assessment of the place as a frontier town, was rather unsurprising. While Novac got plenty of traffic from merchants and travellers on their way up to New Vegas, especially after the shut-down of the I-15, none of them stuck around all that long. It was a stop-off point, a place for weary travellers to rest before they continued on their merry way.

Due to that, they never really had an on-hand mechanic or technician to deal with the many problems that developed with time. All she had to do was go door to door, asking whether people had anything in need of repair. Her lack of objection over what she'd fix as long as she was compensated, as well as the nature of such a rinky-dink town, meant word spread pretty quick and she was up to her ears in requests to fix this or that.

Mostly it was broken refrigerators or malfunctioning toasters and the like, utilities that had simply worn down with time. That was fine with Ruby though; she never really discriminated against the technology in her hands and she was glad for the steady work. Still, she couldn't help but feel she wasn't going to get very far when she was being paid around fifty caps per repair. To fix a vertibird she was going to need upwards of ten thousand caps, at least; and that was just for the parts.

Still, work was work and she managed to while away almost a week fixing up every problem the residents of Novac could throw at her. In short order she was a favoured member of the community, receiving smiles and warm nods as she passed them by in the street. She was making a steady profit and she had a warm bed every night; it was more than some folks could say.

Although, it wasn't like the time was completely unfulfilling; when she wasn't working odds and ends jobs for what seemed like the entire population of the small town, she was working to fix ED-E. She could have easily brought him online by now, but Ruby was never one to do things in half measures. It had taken a while to source the parts but eventually she had managed to replace the little robot's damaged armour, even increasing the power of his small stun weapon.

So it was that, almost a week after arriving in Novac, she proudly began ED-E's boot up sequence.

"Finally get the little guy working?" A gruff voice spoke up from behind her. She didn't have to turn around to know it was Manny. She and the former NCR sniper had struck up a strange sort of friendship in the time she had been here.

"Yeah, took long enough right?" She chirped excitedly. The two had gotten to speaking one night as he came down from his day shift up in the Dinosaur's mouth. She had been fixing the register for Cliff, the resident shopkeeper, and he wanted to know who the new blood was. He was a little reclusive and evasive at first but Ruby had a way of warming people up to her if she was around long enough. He argued it was because her bubbly personality was just too damn infectious but she'd always shrug in a way he found infuriatingly… her.

"I don't know, I think most would have trouble even getting the thing running, never mind cleaned up and brought up to nick like this." He reasoned shrewdly, framed by the sunlight streaming in through the doorway he leaned against.

"Pfft, nah, it's nothing really." Ruby admitted sheepishly, a hint of red colouring her cheeks. She would likely never admit it out of embarrassment but she might have gained a little crush on the friendly sniper. He had a way of always appearing confident, not to mention he had interesting stories to tell from his days in the military and the Great Khans. It was just… reassuring to see the barrel of his rifle poking out the dinosaur's mouth as she walked by to another repair job.

He was certainly better than Boone; that guy seriously needed some lessons on socialising. All the same she knew she was being silly, although he had never told her his age explicitly he was probably in his late thirties; she wasn't even twenty yet.

"You're too modest, I know everyone around here're already struggling to imagine what they'll do when you finally pack up and move on. Hell, I imagine Jeannie-May is planning on giving you a room here so you'll stick around. God knows you've done enough around the motel, fixing everything up and all. I don't think everything's worked this well since the damn bombs dropped." If Ruby's cheeks had a tinge of colour before, they were now flushed; it took all her self-control to push down the feeling until just a small smile remained.

"Everyone?" She asked curiously, trying and failing not to sound too hopeful as Manny walked a little further into the room, looking curiously as the Eyebot at it slowly whirred to life. He just chuckled though, a little more dismissively than Ruby would have liked.

"I knew from the moment you rolled in here you wouldn't be around all that long; not exactly the type to stop and settle down, right?" He accused amusedly; even Ruby couldn't argue with that, not when there was still so much of the world, and its technology, to see. "Nah, I can tell you're the type to keep moving no matter what; a normal life like this one would drive you nuts." Ruby could only chuckle nervously at being pegged so easily, unsure of what to say.

Luckily she didn't have to as at that moment ED-E chirped and whistled happily, rising up into the air with only a small wobble and looking about curiously. It was as if it had been programmed to act like a dog, bobbing about in the air and turning to look at Ruby and Manny respectively. "Awe, he's kind of cute." The redhead grinned, watching as ED-E beeped appreciatively; she knew they were only programmed emotions but from what little she had gleaned from the software she knew they were some damn advanced fake emotions.

"I suppose that means with him up and running you haven't got any other reason to stick around huh?" Manny spoke up, his tone somewhat jovial even if it was masking a sort of flat edge. Ruby was quickly ripped from her reverie by the blunt realisation that he was right.

"Well, there are a few repairs that I could…" She was forced to trail off though when she caught sight of Manny's face; the slightly raised eyebrow was all she needed to see. "Yeah, you're right." Her shoulders slumped slightly; at the back of her mind she knew this couldn't last, that she would eventually run out of things to fix. Still it was nice to live in the dream while she could.

"Any idea where you're going next?" He asked curiously, only to receive another despondent shrug. However this time he managed a light grin as he sat down on the end of the comfy motel bed. "I know Jeannie-May would murder me for telling you this, seeing as she's probably going to do her best to make you her live-in mechanic, but I heard about some work the NCR are offering a little ways north that would be right up your alley."

Ruby's grimace spoke for itself. "I appreciate that Manny, but I don't really fancy the idea of fixing up guns and-" she was cut off as the older ex-sniper raised a hand with a knowing smirk.

"Nothing like that, who'd you take me for?" He shot back with a wink and Ruby had a feeling he knew exactly what her reaction would be. "No, some soldiers came through last night asking for mechanics and engineers and the like for some power plant they're trying to re-build." Manny knew from the glimmer in her eye, he had her hooked. "Jeannie told 'em there was nobody here like that, but I figured you'd want-" It was his turn to be cut off as Ruby practically tackled him into a hug before realising a few moments later what she had done and scurried back, her face almost matching her name.

"T-Thanks Manny, I really appreciate this." He just nodded with that same friendly grin he always wore around her.

"Well, I got catch some kip; it's been a long day of looking at the same old wasteland and I need some rest. I'm guessing that when I wake up you'll be gone?" He glanced across at ED-E who was still hovering there listening curiously, before looking back at Ruby knowingly.

"Yeah… yeah I guess so." She finally agreed, albeit reluctantly. "Thanks Manny, and bye; it's been fun."

He tipped an invisible hat her way before walking out, pausing at the doorway with a chuckle. "Probably best not to tell Jeannie-May; she has a way of not taking no for an answer…" And with that he was gone, leaving Ruby to slump slightly where she sat. Her concentration wavered though when another excited chirp drew her attention back to the little bot hovering over her shoulder.

"Oh right, nearly forgot about you."


	6. Reflecting on it

**Vaas says madness is doing the same thing over and over again; I guess I'm insane then because I keep playing Fallout, that I coincidentally don't own.**

* * *

 _"One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man."_ – Elbert Hubbard

* * *

ED-E proved to be a surprisingly remarkable machine and Ruby found herself completely absorbed in it as she made the hour-long journey to Helios One. Her attention only ever wavered when she checked to make sure she was following Manny's directions correctly. Once the little bot was booted up she nearly had full access to his systems and boy, was there some interesting stuff buried in his tiny frame. She didn't even think she had time to go through all of it.

Quite a bit was audio files that she saved for perusal later, however she nearly tripped over a rock when she found a particularly juicy nugget buried in his coding. She actually stopped in the middle of the desert and stared up at ED-E incredulously.

"What… are _you_ doing with a database full of Poseidon access codes?" The hovering machine merely chirped innocently; he seemed to be enjoying the repairs and general maintenance Ruby had performed on him. It was evident he hadn't had so much as a decent clean for a good long while. His on-board odometer measured in at over two and a half thousand miles; the little guy had sure been on a long adventure.

Still, she wasn't distracted from the fact that he contained what seemed to be high-level access codes for as of yet unknown Poseidon files and systems. This was something she was going to take full advantage of if possible, starting with downloading them off the little guy's memory and onto her Pip-boy. It had the side benefit of clearing up a lot of space within ED-E, and it wasn't like he needed them for anything. Poseidon were leading the world alongside West Tek in cutting-edge technology before the bombs dropped; who knew what kind of secrets these codes could unlock?

When the silhouette of Helios One did eventually come into view Ruby was almost disappointed; it meant she had to stop poking around in ED-E's program. Almost anyway, with the prospect of potentially amazing files somewhere in the distant future or an entire power station to play about with, Ruby would choose the latter anytime. Her excitement only grew as the solar collection tower came into focus through the desert haze.

She forced herself to be composed though as she approached the guards out front. She had seen a few lazing about on her approach but by the time she actually reached the sandbag defences they were on full alert and eyeing her suspiciously. A woman step forward, a lieutenant by her epaulet, and indicated for Ruby to stop; it was with the barrel of her rifle but Ruby couldn't have asked for much more from the NCR.

"What's your business here?" She commanded roughly; she was direct if nothing else.

"I heard you guys were looking for skilled engineers to help fix this place up?" The redhead responded cautiously, hoping that this wasn't just some weird joke Manny was pulling on her. However after a moment the Lieutenant lowered her weapon and nodded, indicating for her to move forward a little. From here she could make out the woman's nametag that read 'Haggerty'.

"What are your qualifications?" She demanded curtly, actually throwing Ruby for a loop for a moment; people still asked for those after the apocalypse? The NCR must be _really_ eager to bring this place back online.

"Well, it's not like I have a CV or anything, but I mean… I'm from Vault fifty-three." That was usually enough to cement it for most people; it had only been five years since the place was discovered and it was already a well-known name across the NCR. Unfortunately Lt. Haggerty simply raised a brow at her.

"Nice try, but the suit says twenty-one."

Ruby blinked before looking down; she had almost forgotten she was still wearing Doc Mitchell's hand-me down. It felt so familiar that it had just become her de-facto work outfit. "Oh, no…" She actually laughed a little. "I've been out of the Vault for five years now; you really think I'd still be wearing my Vault suit?" Haggerty was just staring at her evenly, clearly unamused, so Ruby quickly coughed into her hand. "No, that's… that's a long story. But I can assure you I _am_ from Vault fifty-three."

Haggerty regarded her for a few more moments before shrugging dismissively. "Well, I suppose if you're lying it'll become evident quickly enough; alright." Ruby beamed at the woman as she roughly pointed with her thumb to the large building behind her. "Go talk to Fantastic, he's in charge of the repair operation; annoying-looking guy wearing shades indoors… you can't miss him." The distinctly disparaging look on her face when she mentioned the man didn't do wonders for Ruby's confidence but she was too elated that she had actually gotten the job to care too much. Even being told that she had to leave PD outside for 'security reasons' didn't dampen her spirits.

Haggerty watched the spry young girl practically bounce into the facility, wondering if she had just made a huge mistake. Sure the brain-dead idiot currently leading the project was only getting minimum results, but it was better than nothing. This girl could be a saboteur from the Legion, although as she watched her smile brilliantly at a passing soldier she found that outcome somewhat unlikely.

It was surprising then when Ruby re-emerged from the facility not even five minutes later, a storm-cloud having descended on her face. Her eye was twitching and she was muttering things best left unsaid under her breath, including many an expletive aimed at a 'shades-wearing ass-hat'. Haggerty actually found a smirk spreading across her face as the young redhead marched up to her.

"You found him then?" She could have sworn the girl practically vibrated, her twitching eye spasming slightly.

"No." However the girl wasn't talking about the man's whereabouts. "No, I refuse to work under him… with him… anywhere near him!" She seemed to be doing a poor job or restraining her anger, however she switched in an instant, the energy leaving her as she looked up at Haggerty pleadingly. "Please get rid of him. Please!" Her response was a quirked eyebrow.

"Why would I get rid of a perfectly good worker to satisfy the demands of someone untested, that I don't even know?" Inwardly though the Lieutenant was smirking, glad to see that she wasn't the only one irritated by the blond asshole. However something she said seemed to set the little firecracker off again.

"Perfectly good? Perfectly good! He was shoving a coffee mug into a holodisk access point when I walked in, and when I asked him what he was doing he said: 'learning'!" She had never wanted to throttle somebody so much in her life. But it only grew worse from there. He was rather pleased to finally have an assistant, or as he called her: 'An underling', so he was more than happy to give her a rundown of the systems he had identified. What started out with the power regulatory controls descended into 'the slot that sparks when I put stuff in it.'

"He's getting results." Haggerty countered in deadpan, although the words were somewhat hollow. She had been having doubts about that man from the moment her soldiers came back with him.

"He'll blow this entire complex up!" Ruby shot right back, and she was almost certain that he would, given enough time. Although the little outburst did at least serve to calm her down somewhat. "Anyway, one percent operational capacity is hardly 'results', is it?"

Haggerty wasn't riled though, maintaining her even stare as she rounded on the young engineer. "And what would you do?" She was surprised though when Ruby didn't even flinch.

"I'll bring the place up to at least fifty percent capacity in a week." It was a rash declaration, one that Ruby hadn't entirely thought through; however the thought of working anywhere near that moron was too repugnant to bear. Anyway, how hard could it be to fix up a power station to half-capacity?

Haggerty on the other hand finally showed something other than cold detachment as her eyebrows nearly rose into her hairline. She was about to laugh at the girl but stopped, looking at the redhead carefully. There wasn't a hint of deceit in those steely eyes; she meant every word. Finally, after a moment of careful deliberation where she decided she'd be killing two birds with one stone, she gave a slight nod.

"Alright."

Ruby actually started; her words may have been brash but she hadn't actually expected them to be accepted so quickly. "Huh, really?" She caught herself though, recomposing her face and nodded in a way she hoped seemed dignified. "Well, alright then." She looked on curiously as Haggerty issued some orders to the troops lazing about outside the entrance. Then it was with a great deal of satisfaction that she watched Fantastic, which she thought was a stupid name by the way, being 'escorted' from the building.

"Hey, you can't do this to me! What about my degree in theoretical physics?!" He shouted petulantly, looking more mopey than angry; it was almost pathetic.

It didn't stop Ruby from snorting under her breath. "Yeah, if he has a physics degree then I'm the Overseer."

Fantastic seemed to pick up on it though, turning to face her and grimacing. "I knew you were after my job; I knew it!" However he didn't get to act on the outburst as he was led away from the facility rather quickly after that. The redhead turned to the Lieutenant and found she wasn't the only one enjoying the show. Despite her calm façade she couldn't quite conceal the vindictive pleasure she got seeing the man dragged away.

It dropped almost instantly into a stony mask again as she turned to face Ruby. "Well, you have a week to get your results or your escort from the premises won't be that restrained." Ruby only managed to nod meekly under that intense gaze; thankfully she was dismissed in short order and was allowed to scurry back into the power station.

Now that she had a moment to stop and collect herself she began to feel queasy. What kind of rash declaration had she made, guaranteeing the station would be operational in just a week? Still, she had made her bed and it was time to sleep in it she made her way back to where she found Fantastic originally; it seemed to be a control room of sorts. There she found a man who seemed more competent than the former boss, in his demeanour alone.

"You're not a complete imbecile as well are you?" She asked tentatively; it wasn't the politest way to greet someone but her nerves were beginning to feel somewhat frayed. He only looked amused though.

"I try not to be, no; although if you are referring to my competence I believe you'll find me somewhat of a step up from my former… superior." The man seemed to try the word out curiously before thinking better of it and shaking his head. "My name is Ignacio Rivas, I can only assume you are his replacement?"

Ruby nodded graciously; this man seemed leagues above Fantastic already. "Then would it be too much trouble to ask for a rundown of the station's systems; a real one this time would be just… fantastic, ironically enough." They both shared a quiet chuckle and Ruby instantly knew she would get along with this man.

"Certainly, although before I do would it be too personal for me to ask you your intentions with this facility?" Ignacio asked, his tone neutral.

Ruby quirked an eyebrow. "I want to fix it; I thought that would be obvious."

The man's lips quirked bemusedly. "And why would you want to do that? Are you aiding the NCR, or do you serve another?"

Ruby actually blinked at the question; it seemed somewhat out of left field. "Um… they're paying me?" She tried after a moment of thought, not really seeing where the man was going with this.

However he seemed to see something in her answer and nodded. "Very well; I suppose that is reason enough."

Strangely Ruby found herself wanted to explain herself to this man, without really knowing why. It may have been the calm and reserved way he talked, or perhaps the slightest hint of disappointment she heard in his tone. "Well, it's not like it's just for the money you know. I mean, I wouldn't fix up _anything_ for profit." Although inwardly she wondered at that; it would probably depend on the machine and the pay. "A functioning power station would help a lot of people right?"

At that, Ignacio's smile grew a little. "Yes, I believe it would." Ruby smiled in return, glad to see he appeared happier with the answer; although she still didn't fully understand why. "I don't believe I caught your name?" He queried warmly.

"Ah, Ruby." She blurted, a little hastily; old memories of manners being practically beaten into her by her mother suddenly rushing to the fore of her mind.

"A lovely name; now, you wanted a rundown of the systems?"

For some reason Ruby felt a weight settle in her stomach; there was a definite ominous feeling in her gut all of a sudden.

* * *

Over the next couple of days it became a common sight to see Ruby scurrying about through the halls of Helios One; that was, if she wasn't suddenly appearing out of a maintenance duct to surprise some poor soldier on patrol. She would be muttering to herself over some system she had to examine, a part she required or even what an idiot she was. Some soldiers began to make a small betting pool of how many times she would pace one of the corridors, fists bunched against her temples as she warred silently, or sometimes not so silently, with herself.

It was a welcome sight to most though; with her pale skin, exotically bright hair and lithe build she was certainly easy on the eyes. It helped that when she worked she kept the top half of her Vault suit around her waist, revealing a figure-hugging white vest. Some of the men even considered making a pass, however the young engineer rarely stopped long enough to talk with, and when they found her lying beneath some bulky machine she seemed lost in her own little world.

Her mere presence in the facility seemed to brighten the mood of most. When she wasn't stressing about one mechanism or another she was her usual bubbly, chipper self. Still, it didn't seem to be doing her sanity a great deal of good. After getting the full run-down from Ignacio she realised just what a mess she had planted in her own lap.

All but one of the transformers were offline, each in various states of disrepair. Only two generators even turned on, 'on' being a generous statement. Many of the reflector arrays' rotation mechanisms were jammed and all of them were locked in a misaligned state. That wasn't to mention that there was an entire building she couldn't enter because some idiot had turned the automated security on. If she ever wanted to get even a smidgen more juice out of this place she was going to have to brave the collection tower eventually.

It was not an exciting prospect.

Still, she was making do with what she had, focusing on fixing what she could before tackling the problem of the tower. Currently she had managed to bring all of the generators up to working order as well as all but one of the transformers. It was far too damaged to even think about fixing though, so she had been using it as spare parts for the other seven. She was planning on moving onto the reflectors tomorrow but right now she was taking a break; she had run herself ragged to get even this much functional.

It was a surprisingly cool day for the desert and Ruby was taking advantage of it, enjoying a Nuka Cola out by the main entrance. She was absently doodling one of the reflectors, or heliostats to use their proper names, in the sand as she mused on the current job. She had never worked on anything this massive before and it was rather humbling. Especially so after Haggerty had accepted that she knew what she was doing and had agreed to order in replacement parts when they were essential. It was certainly a new experience to have all these resources at her disposal; it would still be nice to have some help though.

She nearly snorted cola out through her nose at the thought; if there was one thing she had learned working here, it was that the NCR were very tight with their money. Understandable in the midst of a war, but still irritating. Ignacio was all well and good but it was painfully obvious he was far more comfortable with computers than he was with miscellaneous technology. All the important computers would be in the reflector control tower so there wasn't a great deal he could do at the moment.

She was brought out of her thoughts by a commotion nearby; looking up, she spotted Haggarty arguing with a woman she had never seen before. She was wearing some strange clothes that looked to be made of a thick, canvas-like material, with a hood that obscured her face. Ruby wondered how she handled the heat; even on a relatively breezy day like today the redhead had her vest rolled up to just below her chest to cool off.

Obviously the woman didn't like what she was hearing though as she began to grow more animated, gesturing at Helios one forcefully. It seemed the Lieutenant was having none of it though; luckily when weapons began to be raised the strange woman backed off, albeit reluctantly. Haggarty caught Ruby's curious look as she walked back, grunting in annoyance as she passed.

"Another applicant for the job." She glanced back at the retreating form of the woman. "We can't pay both of you, but when I told her that she said it was fine. Turned her away immediately." Ruby quirked an eyebrow. "I don't trust people who work for free, always have an ulterior motive." Apparently that was all the explanation the redhead was going to get as the Lieutenant walked off. She had to agree though, someone willing to work for free was very suspicious.

Ruby would probably do it if the tech was interesting enough, but for a power station out in the back-end of nowhere? Not a chance.

The thought, and the woman, nagged at her thoughts for a while after that as she began to work on the heliostat arrays. Eventually though the desert heat and the steady tedium of the work beat any idle musings from her head. It was only when she went back inside to check the main console that an uneasy feeling descended on her shoulders. It was silly, and paranoid, but she couldn't shake the feeling she was being watched.

It was the occasional footsteps she'd hear only to turn and see nobody there, the tools she'd find slightly out of place from where she left them, as well as a general anxiety. It could have been the soldiers but her gut told her this was something different.

It eventually came to a head by complete coincidence; Ruby was balancing precariously on a ladder, making sure a coupling was correctly fitted to one of the transformers. A spark of electricity from nearby made her flinch and lose her balance, causing her to fall to the catwalk below and manage to land right on top of somebody. She knew as much because the landing was softer than it should have been and she had heard them gasp as the breath was knocked out of them.

"Urgh, sorry about tha-" She paused mid-groan though, her eyes wide in disbelief as she saw the floor beneath her. This might not have been so crazy if it wasn't for the fact that she was currently floating above it, even though she could definitely feel something beneath her. "W-W-Wha-?" She never got the chance to finish the word as the something suddenly rolled them both so it was on top. The space before her eyes flickered for a moment before that same woman she had seen before faded into view.

' _You!'_ She could only think the word though as her mouth was covered by the woman's hand, her protests coming out as indistinct muffled noises. Her captor was looking about furtively to see if the commotion had attracted any soldiers before sighing as she saw they were clear.

"Quiet!" She hissed and Ruby immediately complied, falling still and silent; she seemed quite surprised at that. However Ruby could feel something metal and hand-shaped pressing into her side and she knew what that meant: a power fist. She had seen those things in action and it wasn't pretty; the woman on top of her could easily crush her ribcage with a single punch and she'd quite like her torso to not be concave.

"Ah, um, thanks." Now that she actually had control the woman seemed uncertain of what to do; she obviously hadn't been counting on being caught. Ruby didn't really blame her if she had been using the stealth boy she saw strapped to her wrist. Her eyes widened at the revelation.

' _She's the reason I kept feeling like I was being watched!'_ It wasn't just mindless paranoia then. _'Huh, when did I get so perceptive?'_ She shook the thought off her though and focused on the woman who could easily kill her with a movement of her arm. If she could just reach the laser pistol on her hip…

"Look," The woman whispered furtively, "is there any chance you could just forget I was ever here?" Ruby blinked, hand freezing in confusion before she slowly nodded; if it meant she got out of this alive. The woman smiled, about the only part of her the redhead could see beneath that hood, and slowly let her go, inching back with her hands raised non-threateningly. Immediately Ruby whipped the pistol from her hip, more as a comfort than anything else. However she could tell this was the wrong thing to do as her attacker tensed, armoured-hand curling into a fist.

"What are you doing here?" Ruby asked tentatively, pistol trained on the woman. She got the feeling that even if she managed to squeeze off a few shots it wouldn't stop the woman getting close enough to cave her head it.

"I can't answer that." She grunted, face twisting into a grimace, eyes still darting about in case of people stumbling onto them. That was when Ruby knew she still had an advantage to play as she drew in a large breath as though to shout out. The other woman's eyes widened in alarm and she immediately threw her hands up, motioning for the redhead to stop.

"Please don't do that!" She hissed quietly but forcefully, hands moving furtively.

"Then tell me what you're doing here." Ruby shot back, still keeping her voice low. The other woman must know that even if she killed Ruby, as long as she got a shout out the place would quickly swarm with soldiers and, stealth-boy or not, she wouldn't make it out of here. It was little comfort to the young engineer if she was dead, but it could certainly act as a deterrent.

Still, the other woman's face only grew more anguished. "I told you… I can't." Ruby drew in a breath again and almost immediately the woman dropped to her knees, hands up in surrender. "Alright alright, I'll tell you, just don't call them!" She begged, sighing in relief as Ruby deflated slightly. She seemed to war internally for a moment before slumping slightly. "I-I'm with the Brotherhood of Steel." She winced, expecting an outcry or alarm; when it never came she slowly opened her eyes.

Ruby was sitting there, eyes glazed over with a tiny trail of drool hanging from her lip. She shook her head to rid herself of the daze before practically launching herself at the other woman. If she was expecting an attack though it never came as Ruby gripped both of her shoulder excitedly, immediately barraging her with an onslaught of questions.

"You're with the Brotherhood that's so cool does that mean you live in a bunker or do you have access to all that technology they've collected or have you seen their vertibird fleet is it true they managed to somehow get the blueprints what's their power system like have they ever found any prototypes from before the war or schematics for new technology or…" Eventually she had to stop to actually take in a breath and the other woman used the merciful interlude to clamp a hand over the excitable redhead's mouth.

Ruby quickly noticed her faux pas and blushed a deep shade of red; she hadn't exactly been subtle with her tirade of barely understandable questions. Sure enough the other woman's eyes widened and with a flick of her wrist she faded from sight. Not a moment later a soldier rushed into the room, spotting Ruby lying awkwardly on the floor and raising his weapon as he looked about the room suspiciously.

"What happened? We heard shouting." However it was clear he had already surmised what she'd done as he spotted the fallen ladder. Ruby just grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head like a child being scolded.

"Sorry, I was a little clumsy, didn't mean to disturb you guys." She picked herself up and moved back over to the ladder, righting it with a bit of effort.

The trooper merely lowered his weapon and sighed with a small smirk. "If you need anything just let us know; it's not fair they're making a pretty young thing like you do all this dangerous work."

Ruby gave him a beaming grin that lasted all the way until he had left the room, whereupon it only lessened a little as she turned back to where the Brotherhood woman was before. Sure enough she faded back into view, looking after the retreating soldier cautiously. "You didn't turn me in…" Her disbelief was evident.

Ruby grinned. "Of course not, they'd take you away and I'd never get to ask all my questions." She explain as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

The other woman stared at her for a long few moments before an uncontrollable smile broke out on her features. "You really have a one-track mind, don't you?" She glanced back at the transformer Ruby had been re-coupling. "I couldn't help but notice while I was looking around that you're quite the skilled engineer. I'm not even sure Senior Knight Lorenzo would have been able to do all this in such a shirt time." She did sound genuinely impressed.

"So, are you going to tell me why you were looking around in the first place now?" The redhead asked curiously, grabbing a chair to straddle as she looked intently at the woman.

"I'm not sure this is the best place…" She replied with a weak grin, glancing back the way the trooper had left.

"Alright, how about something simpler then." It was clear Ruby had no intention of letting the woman get away without some answers. "I'm Ruby, formerly of Vault fifty-three."

That little titbit seemed to throw her off a bit but the woman recovered admirably with a warm smile. "I'm Veronica, formerly of Maxson Bunker."

* * *

They spent a while trying to sort out a plan that would allow Veronica to stick around Helios One other than excessive use of the stealth boy, risking someone else finding her snooping around. It had limited use anyway, the batteries ran out after about two-days use and they were a nightmare to recharge or replace. Instead they had settled on Veronica coming in as a 'consultant' to Ruby that she would 'pay' out of her own money. At least, that was what she told Haggerty so that the next day when Veronica showed up again in different clothes the Lieutenant didn't just immediately turn her away.

"So you told her that you would get this place up to 50% working condition in just a week?" Veronica asked incredulously. The two of them were in the control room in the main facility while Ignacio was out having lunch. Ruby was underneath one of the consoles, re-wiring it so that it actually displayed results instead of gibberish, regaling Veronica with the story of how she got here.

"Well, I wasn't exactly thinking straight was I?" She could practically feel Veronica's grin from there.

"Come on, this… Fantastic guy," She sniggered slightly, still not quite believing that name, "Can't have been _that_ bad." As they talked she was idly browsing one of the computers; most of it was just readouts on the facility's output and status, all of which were depressingly in the red, but there were some interesting notes hidden in the coding.

"Well put it this way; what do you put in a DI port?" Ruby questioned, rolling out from underneath the console to stare at the dark-haired woman pointedly.

"A Type-II holodisk." She replied reflexively; for a moment it was like she was back in Scribe Orling's classroom.

"Exactly, not a bloody coffee mug!"

At that Veronica grinned bemusedly, trying to imagine the scenario in her head and only succeeding in making herself burst out laughing. "Okay, okay…" She managed between giggles "…you got me, that sounds pretty bad." Ruby just nodded imperiously as if to say 'I know, right?' Before sliding back under the console.

However something Veronica saw on the computer monitor made her pause, looking back over it carefully. "Hey Ruby?" She got a muffled grunt as an answer. "What's ARCHIMEDES II?"


	7. Shedding some light

**Sometime... not owning Fallout really gets to me you know? Then I remember that I'm way too lazy to manage a successful gaming franchise, so it's all good!**

* * *

 _"Why do Programmers mix up Halloween and Christmas? Because Oct 31 = Dec 25."_ – Unknown

* * *

"This has to be it!"

"You don't know that Veronica…" Ruby argued half-heartedly.

"No, this has to be what Elder Elijah was looking for. I just don't understand..." The Brotherhood scribe trailed off, becoming pensive as she stared down into her lap.

The discovery of the ARCHIMEDES orbital platform had been a surprise for both girls. Ruby probably would have stumbled on it sooner if she hadn't left all the computers to Ignacio, and she had to wonder about that; was he purposefully keeping her away from it? Then again, she could see why; a space laser that could fire on any target that side of the planet was a frightening prospect. Still, it hadn't stopped Veronica from rashly declaring that this must have been what her mentor had been looking for before his disappearance.

It had all come tumbling out then; the Brotherhood's occupation of Helios One, their ousting during the war with the NCR, Elijah's almost fervent protection of the facility, his subsequent disappearance when they retreated. The young scribe had been searching for clues to his whereabouts ever since, refusing to believe he was just gone. Eventually, after many frustrating dead-ends, she had decided to return to the 'scene of the crime' as it were.

Which led to this moment.

"I just don't understand it; we had the plant running, it was nearly fully operational but we still held our positions until the last possible minute. All of it… on his orders." Operation Sunburst would go down as one of the heaviest losses of the Brotherhood's campaign against the NCR. "If he had something like this…" She stared at the monitor detailing some of the weapon's capabilities in the form of notes from an unnamed General of the U.S Military.

"Why didn't he use it?" Ruby finished for her, expression grim as she laid a hand on Veronica's shoulder.

"Exactly." She looked so helplessly lost at that moment, it tugged at the redhead's heartstrings. She was surprised then when a kind of steel descended over the scribe's features, her hands clenching into fists.

"No, there has to be something else; I refuse to believe he just abandoned us like that for no reason." Ruby was about to say something but Veronica chose that moment to turn and look up at her, something desperate glinting in her eyes. "Right?"

Not entirely sure what to do, and tempted to activate VATs just for the extra time to think, Ruby finally let out a small sigh. She smiled weakly at the scribe and nodded. "Sure; I mean, from what you told me about Elijah he doesn't sound the type." Then again Veronica practically worshipped the Elder, it was evident in the way she spoke about him with such reverence, mixed with her own confusion at the seeming betrayal.

The smile she got back from the young scribe was worth it though. "Thanks Ruby, I've barely met you and already you're comforting me like an old friend." She chuckled weakly, glancing back at the monitor that had caused all this. "Still, this doesn't really help me find him; it just gives me an idea of what he was looking for."

At that Ruby clapped her on the shoulder. "Well then, we just keep looking."

At that Veronica raised a brow. "We?" She was surprised at the genuine grin the redhead gave.

"Sure, I'm gonna have to move on from here when I get paid and I don't have any plans other than to make a whole lot of money; so why not travel with you, right?" Once again she was thankful for the opportunity to see Veronica smile like that; there was just something so sincere about it, a quality hard to find in the wastes.

It quickly twisted into a cheeky smirk though. " _When_ you get paid? Isn't that a bit cocky? As I reckon you've only got four more days to get this place up and running; pretty tall order for most."

Ruby scoffed at the challenge in her tone. "Do I look like _most_?"

Veronica simply chuckled again. "No, no I suppose you don't." She glanced up curiously at the redhead for a moment. "So why the interest in making money? Aside from the obvious of course…"

Ruby's grin became practically Cheshire in proportion at that. "Well, you'd probably never believe it…"

* * *

The two spent a lot of time talking after that, and as far as Ruby was concerned the company was welcomed. Veronica easily proved up to the task of helping her fix up the various systems in and around the power plant. In fact, Ruby was starting to wonder if the self-set goal of a week would have even been possible without her. The scribe might not have been quite up to her level in general maintenance and technological trickery, but she was incredibly good when working with delicate electrical components.

Still, it wasn't enough to mask the fact that the two had vastly different viewpoints when it came to technology, as became unavoidably evident when Veronica came across Ruby out by one of the heliostats late on the fourth day. At least, she could only assume it was one of the heliostats; it appeared to have been completely dismantled down to the smallest screw, all of it laid out on a large tarp to keep it off the dusty ground.

"W-What did you do?" The scribe asked in disbelief, eyes wide in shock at the state of the reflector; that had been one of the ones in the best condition too. "You can't be thinking of using this as spare parts?!" They had already repaired the rotor mechanisms for all the arrays and wiped down every single panel until they practically sparkled in the sun; there was nothing left to fix!

Ruby just waved a hand at her lamely, attention elsewhere as she focused on something in her lap. "I'll put it back together again, chill."

Veronica could only stand there, jaw working silently as she stayed rooted in place. Just put it back together again? Veronica had become intimately involved with the working of these heliostats as she fixed them one by one but she couldn't even imagine assembling one from scratch. She was about to launch into a tirade to that very effect, over the blatant disrespect of the technology, only to freeze as she caught sight of just what was riveting Ruby's gaze.

The girl was carefully and painstakingly drawing a very complex-looking diagram out onto a large and noticeably thick piece of paper in a way that reminded Veronica heavily of…

"Are you drawing a schematic?" Any disbelief over Ruby's treatment of the reflector was dwarfed the new revelation. She had grown up with the Brotherhood her entire life and even she had never seen anybody actually create a schematic from an existing piece of technology. It was forbidden; after all taking apart a system to better understand it involved the risk of damaging it beyond repair or not being able to reassemble it. However here Ruby was, doing just that, not a care in the world.

"Yeah." Was the curt response as Ruby held up a thumb to gauge the size of one of the reflector panels, quickly and expertly sketching it in to the diagram, completing the blueprint. She grinned at the finished drawing and quickly rolled up the thick paper into a neat scroll before securing it with a piece of string and depositing it safely into her satchel. Satisfied it was now tucked away securely she turned to look up at Veronica. "Cool huh?" Veronica could only nod mutely.

"Everybody learned how in the Vault but nobody ever really used it much, we knew most of the systems off by heart anyway. My teacher said I had a bit of a knack for it though so when I started running into unfamiliar technology I took it apart and made schematics of it. I still send them back home occasionally; earns me a neat commission whenever somebody uses them." A frown marred her features for a moment. "I haven't been back for a while though, and I lost a whole bunch when I got shot in the head."

Veronica just nodded dumbly again before realising how gormless she must look and shook herself out if it; she was a Brotherhood scribe for Pete's sake. "Isn't that… dangerous?"

Ruby looked genuinely bemused at that. "Why?"

Veronica spluttered for a moment, failing to see how Ruby couldn't understand this simplest of things that she had been taught all her life. "Well what if you couldn't put it back together?!" All she received for that was a quirked eyebrow and a dismissive snort.

"Please…" As if precisely to prove her wrong Ruby immediately went about putting the reflector array back together, a little faster than she might have otherwise, just to prove a point. Veronica could only stand there and grind her teeth.

"I guess that means you're familiar with these then?" She must have put one together before; she couldn't be this confident otherwise.

However Ruby proved her wrong again with a small chuckle, nodding towards the satchel containing the schematic absently. "I am now."

Veronica was just about ready to storm off at that point, ready to come back and gloat when Ruby got something wrong and messed up the heliostat horrendously. However a thought occurred to her and she paused, blinking rapidly as she replayed the conversation in her mind.

"Wait… you got shot in the head?!"

* * *

Ruby's story of her own miraculous survival went a long way in dissuading Veronica's ire. However the girl wasn't completely satisfied until she came back later and found the heliostat completely reassembled, and as far as she could tell, fully functional. It was a rather humbling sight, not that she would admit it out loud; she was still annoyed with Ruby for so carelessly disregarding something she had been taught to believe for as long as she could remember.

Still, work had a way of drowning out such thoughts under the monotony of maintenance and repair. Eventually though both girls could fool themselves no longer, realising there was little else to do in the main building, or even with the reflectors. With just two days left of Ruby's self-imposed deadline there was a silent agreement that it was time to tackle the reflector control tower. Ruby had even been allowed to bring PD into the facility, for the special circumstances.

"So, how good of a fighter are you?" Veronica asked curiously as she eyes up the pneumatically-sealed door.

Ruby paused her fiddling with the access panel that looked as though it had been melted all the way through. "I'm… really not; at all." She cocked her head slightly as she wound two wires together. "Not if I can help it anyway." She muttered under her breath.

Veronica just shrugged, checking her power-fist like she had countless times before. "That's alright, I'm used to fighting on my own so as long as you stay back you should be fine." Ruby frowned, she didn't like the idea that she was some helpless damsel in need of protection. The only reason they had a Securitron with them was because of her. She didn't get to voice the complaints though because at that moment the door unlocked with a hiss and swung open.

There was a small antechamber just passed the door and Ruby used the opportunity to bring ED-E out from PD's storage space. The NCR hadn't appreciated him buzzing about the facility so she'd had to keep him deactivated; he seemed to appreciate the newfound freedom though if his happy beeping was anything to go on. Ruby was glad for it too; the tower was unsettlingly quiet save for the occasional hiss of steam from the pipes on the walls.

As they walked she was disturbed by the lack of opposition; Veronica had told her the Brotherhood activated the automated defences here to keep the NCR out. They hadn't run into so much as a locked door yet. That quickly changed as Ruby rounded a corner only to get violently jerked back in time to see a round of bullets tear into a far wall.

Veronica clicked her tongue, motioning to the wall where a few older bullet holes could be seen. "You have to be more vigilant; let PD go ahead of us for now."

The redhead didn't appreciate being ordered about, but considering the scribe had potentially saved her life, she decided to defer to her experience. She did as she was told and hung back when they finally encountered resistance in the form of turrets and robotic sentries. As useless as she felt though she had to admit the sight of Veronica and PD taking all of that on themselves… was pretty damn awesome.

She felt like a kid again, watching those old war movies that were so popular just before the bombs dropped. Now that the enemies weren't people, she could appreciate the way PD's Gatling lasers neatly sliced through the metal of their hulls. It was mesmerising to watch Veronica weave in and out of cover, rushing up to a sentry bot faster than its sensors could keep up with before crushing its head in with a well-placed blow.

It was as though the young woman was able to anticipate how their programming worked, and with a small start the redhead realised she probably could. It was then that the difference between their two upbringings became painfully apparent. While Ruby had been helping to keep her Vault operational for another day by learning how to fix every mechanism under the sun, Veronica had been training day-in, day-out in a multitude of disciplines.

With just the two of them, it was slow going moving through the facility. Ruby helped where she could, disabling the majority of the turrets that would have posed a problem to the preferably close-ranged scribe. Ultimately though it was a sweaty and tired duo, plus their robotic companions, that finally made it up to the walkways overlooking the reflector arrays. They blinked in the sunlight gratefully; it had felt like hours moving through the tower.

After a moment to catch their breath they were both able to take in the sight below them, a little taken aback. Neither had ever seen anything like the glittering sea of reflective squares that stretched out below them. Ruby could only imagine what they looked like when they were facing the right direction, each catching the light like a field of miniature suns.

"Well, we made it." Veronica intoned breathlessly, grinning through her fatigue.

Ruby, who was in better condition than her exhausted companion, grinned and cracked her knuckles teasingly. "Not so hard huh?"

Despite herself Veronica chuckled. "I know right? The hard part starts now."

Ruby had to agree, now they had to go back through the tower and fix everything back up.

* * *

Luckily for them, the seemingly daunting task became less of a burden when they came across a few maintenance robots. They had missed them on their way up because they had been offline and therefore not shooting at them. The reprogrammed Mr Handys weren't exactly up to the task of the larger repairs the old tower would need to be functional again, especially after the damage the Brotherhood had wrought on their way out, but they could certainly manage a lot of the smaller stuff.

This meant Ruby could really prioritise those repairs that would at least get the plant running again. That would have to be for another time though because there was something interesting Ruby a lot more now.

It had taken her the rest of that day to get the severely damaged generator running again, supplying power to the solar collection tower. It was rather late then when she was hunched over the computer connected to the mainframe.

What she found made her grin.

"Veronica!" Her voice echoed through the corridors of the tall building until a slightly harried and somewhat greasy scribe came running in.

"So this is where you've been…" The journeyman scribe complained as she cracked her neck. It looked as though she had just come out of an oil shower. Ruby guessed she had been fixing one of the leaking pipes that ran through the facility. They carried the much-needed heat transfer fluid that carried the energy from the collector to the turbines. A whole bunch had burst when the generators came back online and everything started moving again.

"Never mind that." Ruby dismissed, although Veronica looked as though she wanted to do anything _but_ forget as she wiped off a large dollop of the viscous oil. "Look at this." The redhead exclaimed proudly, moving out the way so that Veronica could see the monitor.

The scribe got over her gripe for the moment and hunkered down to scrutinise the flickering screen, and then again… and again. Finally she looked up with a somewhat sheepish grin, rubbing the back of her head until she realised she was just spreading the oil. "Code deciphering was never really my strong suit…" She admitted slowly, making Ruby sigh and push her out of the way softly.

She pointed out a certain line of code on the screen. "This. It's related to the ARCHIMEDES system and the way it's hooked up to the power grid."

With some kind of reference point Veronica was able to decipher the jargon a little better. "It's integrated into the plant's grid… right?" Basically meaning that when the satellite was in use, the facility's power wouldn't be going anywhere else. The two had figured as much for such a powerful weapon anyway; the energy drain from it firing would be immense.

Ruby nodded. "Right, if the laser was to be fired when the plant was sending energy off to the main's grid, it would overload the station and severely damage the generators. However…" She pointed to a separate line of text "…it looks as though somebody was working to change that; this is half complete programming that, as far as I can tell, was supposed to disconnect the laser from the grid _except_ for when it fired."

Veronica's eyes widened in understanding at that. "Meaning the laser could essentially be active while the plant is still sending power elsewhere."

She got another enthusiastic nod from the redhead. "Right, and here…" She moved her hand down slightly, scrolling down the page "…is a program that would activate a kind of safety switch, allowing the transformers to safely deactivate before the fire." She shook her head with a bemused smile. "This is some really advanced programming as well, I've only ever seen this kind of stuff from my moth…" Blinking, she coughed into her hand as she realised the slight slip.

However Veronica didn't even seem to notice, staring at the screen with a look of awe. "Elijah…"

"I thought so too." Ruby admitted, looking at the screen with a newfound respect for the wayward Elder. "I mean, I don't know of many people capable of this; hell I'd be surprised if the people who originally worked on this place thought of some of these algorithms."

However once again Veronica only seemed minutely aware Ruby was even talking. She was just staring at the screen with blank eyes, fists bunched against her stomach. "I knew he didn't abandon us, I just knew it. This had to be what he was working on, why he had everyone defend this place to the end…" She trailed off, eyes now roaming the code without really taking it in, satisfied in the comfort it provided just by existing.

"Mhmm. You guys must have activated the plant before finding out about the power-grid limitations; if he'd fired ARCHIMEDES without finishing this program he was liable to blow the entire facility up from the back-charge. We got lucky, when the Brotherhood blew the generators on their way out it acted as a kind of hard-reset. Otherwise this code would have been erased upon activation of the reflectors and we'd have never known." She grinned proudly only to falter as she spotted Veronica bring a hand up to wipe her misty eyes.

Ruby would be the first to admit she was a little socially awkward, she could thank her parents for that. So when confronted by her friend crying, and she _had_ come to think of Veronica that way, she absolutely no clue what to do. "Ahh, I'll leave you alone to think for a while." She suggested lamely, standing up quietly and making to leave. However she found her hand taken in by a surprisingly strong grasp.

"Thank you Ruby." That gratitude was watery, but heartfelt, and the redhead walked from the room feeling just a little lighter.

She was a little upset that she couldn't even tell Veronica the best part though. If Elijah had been so fervent in his defence of the plant right up to the last minute it meant he thought he could still finish the coding in time; and _that_ meant it was nearly complete. From what she had seen Ruby couldn't quite compare her skills to the more experienced Elder, but that didn't mean she couldn't do it; it would just take a little more time is all.

She was never one to back down from a challenge, even one left by an unknowing Elder long gone from the place.

* * *

"I hope you had a damn good reason for making me climb ten flights of stairs Vault dweller." Haggarty grouched as she, Ruby and Veronica made their way out onto the catwalk overlooking the reflector away. "This early in the morning too, my patrol shift is still an hour away."

Ruby just strode on, managing to ignore the Vault dweller comment with only a mild twitch of her brow. It was still annoying when people called her that; she had left the place five years ago dammit. "Oh don't worry, I have a feeling you'll really want to see this." She stated with a grin, enjoying the look of irritation she got from the Lieutenant at her mysterious attitude.

It was the last day of her time-limit so she had taken a great deal of satisfaction in waking the grouchy officer up and making her follow her all the way to the top of the collection tower at eight thirty in the morning. She had been up and down the thing so many times in the past two days she barely noticed anymore, so it was amusing to see somebody unused to the climb navigating the labyrinth of corridors, stairs and access-ways it took to reach the upper platform.

"Nice view; is that it?" Haggerty intoned in a flat tone, looking out over the railing with only slight interest at the array of misaligned reflectors below them.

Ruby just grinned cheekily. "Not even close, come on." She led the reluctant Lieutenant up a spiral walkway to another platform even higher up, this time just underneath the collection tank. This close, you could feel the heat radiating off of the special panels designed to efficiently collect solar energy. Right now it only had the ambient heat of the desert sun overhead; when the plant was operational Ruby imagined it would be positively sweltering up here.

They reached a control panel that had obviously been recently repaired given the mess of wires protruding everywhere and the lack of a casing. However everything at least _looked_ functional as Ruby quickly adjusted a few settings, checking her Pip-boy carefully. After about five minutes of waiting around for nothing Haggerty was about to berate the girl for wasting her time but Ruby beat her to it.

"Alright, and that makes nine o'clock. Do you want to do the honours Lieutenant?" She gestured to a rather prominent lever on the mess of a control panel and after a moment's hesitation Haggerty strode forward and pulled it down. The results were immediate; with a groan of disused gears and hydraulics the heliostats below them all began to move as one. One by one they perfectly lined up with the sun as the air just above them gradually filled with streaks of reflected light.

It was really a sight to behold, at least until all three of them were forced to cover their eyes with their arms. Ruby was right, it was blindingly bright up there, not to mention quickly growing to feel like an open-air oven. With that in mind they quickly retreated down to the lower platform, Haggerty sneaking a glance over the edge again to engrave the sight into her mind.

"Pretty impressive right?" Ruby cut in with a smirk, unable to remove the smug pride in her tone. Haggerty had to hand it to her though, she seemed to have lived up to her promise. "I'll have to check the readouts downstairs to be sure, but if my calculations are correct…" which she was willing to bet her last cap on considering the effort she had made _making_ the damn things "…the plant should currently be operating at 87.2 percent efficiency. In two days, with the automated maintenance from those robots we activated, that should rise to about 92.6 percent."

"Well, I have to admit… I'm impressed." Haggerty admitted with only slight reluctance. She was certainly glad to have been proven wrong but she had been completely ready to throw this girl to the curb when her overblown claims fell through. "Could you get it any higher?" She had to think about what was best for the NCR after all and they needed every drop of power they could get.

Ruby shrugged, a little put out her achievement was already being put to one side. "I might be able to raise it by point one or two of a percent by maximising the efficiency of the transformers, but not much else. There were a load of reflectors that were too damaged to be repaired so I used them as spare parts instead, plus there was an entire transformer that was a complete write-off. That's mostly what's causing the drop in output. I'd have to build them back from scratch and I do _not_ have the parts for that."

Haggerty nodded, accepting that. Those fractions of a percent in power would not be worth the money they'd be paying the girl to carry on and she would never get the clearance to order in enough parts to build a functioning transformer. No, 93 percent would be just fine for her superiors; hell, 20 percent would have been something noteworthy considering the output under the plant's previous technological… guidance. That was probably too generous a word.

"And maintenance?" She queried curtly; a functioning power plant did them little good if it was just going to break down in a month again, leaving them with nothing.

Ruby looked up thoughtfully. "Shouldn't be a problem I guess, the robots here in the tower could handle most of it barring anything catastrophic, but as long as you guys don't overload the system or put it in emergency output mode, that shouldn't happen." Haggerty nodded, taking the advice on board as she glanced down at her watch; her patrol began soon but she still had time.

"Alright then, in that case I'll go and prepare your payment. I'll meet you two down by the entrance." And with that she strode off at a brisk pace that bereft Ruby of the chance to ask if she could find her way okay.

She was still grinning though, causing Veronica to round on her suspiciously. "Okay, what's up? You're happy, but not 'I just fixed the power station happy'."

Ruby quirked a brow, feigning a hurt expression cheekily. "You don't know me that well…"

The young scribe just snorted. "Says Miss 'I mutter RobCo access codes in my sleep'." Ruby winced, she thought she had gotten rid of that habit. "Come on, tell me what it is."

Just to be cruel Ruby paused dramatically before grinning. "I did it." Upon Veronica's blank stare she elaborated. "I finished the program to separate ARCHIMEDES from the power grid; it's active right now!"

However far from the excited expression Ruby was expecting she only received a look of abject horror from the young scribe. "And you're just leaving that kind of firepower in the NCR's hands?!" Images of Hidden valley, reduced to a scorched crater, flashed through her mind.

Ruby was taken aback slightly, frowning. "What? No! What do you take me for; I'm a technophile, not a moron." She felt a little offended Veronica thought her so careless; it was times like these that reminded her they hadn't known each other longer than a few days. The way they initially clicked, it felt like a lot longer. "Technically… nobody controls it."

It was Veronica's turn to be confused. "What?"

Ruby moved her hands as if weighing invisible objects. "Well, the firing mechanism is locked to some outside receiver; probably some kind of rangefinder or targeting device. It operates on an entirely different program to avoid being hacked into so I couldn't actually get any control over the satellite." She raised her hands pre-emptively as Veronica's eyes widened. "Before you asked, I scoured the entire facility for the thing; I mean, it would have the Poseidon logo on so it would be pretty noticeable."

Veronica relaxed a little, seeing that Ruby had genuinely tried to be cautious at least. "But then… where?"

Ruby shrugged unhelpfully. "At this point? Could be anywhere; I found a log that seemed to suggest the General who commissioned the weapon usually carried it around, and who knows where he was when the bombs dropped?"

Veronica frowned at the young engineer. "Then why go to all that trouble for something you could never use?"

Once again the tables were turned as Ruby stared, horrified at the scribe. "Use it? Why the hell would I use it? That thing has catastrophic power, capable of reducing underground bunkers to slag at full power if the reports we read were accurate. I just couldn't leave that programming alone, it was too spectacular to leave unfinished." A little disconcerted Ruby moved towards the tower door. "Come on, we should go and get paid; I imagine the Lieutenant doesn't want us hanging around longer than we need to."

Veronica watched helplessly as Ruby hurriedly left, feeling like she had monumentally put her foot in her mouth there. It was hard to remember sometimes that Ruby wasn't of the Brotherhood; talking with her and the way she revered technology was just so… familiar. Cursing her own stupidity she quickly followed after the girl.


	8. Walk and talk

**Life's tough; Fallout New Vegas in hardcore mode... isn't. But I still don't own it!**

* * *

 _"Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant."_ – Mitchell Kapor

* * *

Ruby really hoped she wasn't salivating as she looked down at the money in her hands. ' _Ten thousand NCR dollars, that's four thousand caps!'_ It wouldn't get her everything she needed for the vertibird but it certainly went a long way towards it. However being paid and summarily dismissed left her in the rather precarious position of not knowing where to go next. She didn't think she could just go back to working odd jobs, not after something like this.

At the same time though, she had discussed this very thing with Veronica before they finished work on the plant. Ruby had agreed to travel with the scribe, but that didn't mean Veronica knew where she was going either. Elijah's trail, while they had shed light on it with the revelations at Helios, was still as cold as ever. Normally as a journeyman scribe her job was to collect food and resources for the Brotherhood. She had admitted though that it was mostly an honorary position just to get her out of the bunker; she was wasn't exactly well liked down there.

Instead the redhead turned to Haggerty, who had just finished paying Ignacio his cut for the work. "Do you know if the NCR is offering anymore jobs like this? Large scale or specialised repair?"

The Lieutenant had to pause to think about it. "I can't really say, you'd have to go higher up the chain to find out more about the various projects going on in the Mojave." She scrutinised the scrawny mechanic for a moment. "There's always Hoover Dam…" She nodded though when she saw Ruby frown "… but yeah, I can see that's not really up your alley." She shrugged noncommittedly, it was not really her problem where Ruby went from here. "If I knew, I'd be the first to recommend you, but I don't; sorry."

Ruby thanked her for the consideration all the same before allowing the Lieutenant to get back to her job, turning her attention over to Ignacio. "Well, I guess this is goodbye then." She was actually sort of sad to part ways with the man. While she had immediately found fast friendship with Veronica, her occasional talks with Mr Rivas were always interesting.

"I suppose so; I can only say the experience was… pleasant." Ignacio agreed in his usual placid way. "You greatly exceeded my expectations in bringing this plant online; with it at near full-capacity many lives can be improved, not just those at McCarren and the Strip." He was right, while not nearly enough to supply the entire Mojave with power, ninety-three percent output was nothing to scoff at.

Ruby just tipped an invisible hat cheekily. "Always of service."

Ignacio smiled despite himself and tipped his head in return. "Have you ever considered coming to work for the Followers of the Apocalypse? With your skills I imagine you could wreak a great deal of good for the people of the wastes."

That one actually threw her a little. "Um, the humanitarian guys right?" Ignacio nodded patiently. "Uh, I never really considered it to be honest." She grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. "I'm not exactly a doctor and… to be honest, I hear you guys don't pay too well." Wow, that sounded way less selfish in her head; still, Ignacio simply shrugged as if he had known her answer already.

"Well, then I suppose this really is goodbye. Farewell Ruby." He nodded at Veronica. "And you Veronica, while our ideologies differ I found your company equally pleasant." And with that he simply walked away, quickly fading into the heat haze on the horizon.

When he was out of sight Ruby turned to the scribe curiously. "'Our ideologies differ'? You told him?"

Veronica was staring after the man, her face a mixture of shock and bemusement. "What an odd man." She smirked lightly. "No, I never told him where I'm from but I guess he must have worked it out from our conversations." She shook her head again. "Crazy." The two began to walk away from the plant without any real destination in mind, just angling for the highway at the moment.

"You know," Veronica started up after a while "I've always kind of envied the Followers; they're so different from the Brotherhood and yet we could have easily been just like them. Instead of hoarding all our technology as self-imposed defenders of the past, we could have been teachers. We have resources like the Followers wouldn't believe and look at all the good _they_ manage to do."

Ruby just stared at her for a moment. "Wow, that was… deep."

The scribe let out a chuckle. "Sorry about that; I guess I got a bit philosophical there."

The redhead shrugged complacently. "Anyway, where to now?" They had reached the main highway that stretched north and south; from here both ends just seemed to vanish into the blurry horizon.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I was looking forward to some relaxation after all this." Veronica held up a hand to shade her eyes as she peered north. "I know this rest stop that does pretty good food about half a day's walk from here, certainly better than that ration crap the NCR have." She looked back with a grin. "What do you say? Should we think on it over a night's sleep on some good food?"

Well, Ruby didn't have any better ideas, so she nodded happily. "Sure, sounds good."

* * *

Travelling with a companion that wasn't a trundling block of bolts and wires turned out to be a rather novel experience for the young technophile. Usually she was left alone to talk to herself out loud or preferably, so that she didn't sound _too_ crazy, to a machine she had 'convinced' to be her companion. The pair talked quite a bit as they steadily traveled north along the baked tarmac; mostly it was just idle chit-chat.

At least until Veronica glanced to the east. "So, you were pretty dead-set against going to the Dam huh?" The question came out of the blue and threw Ruby for a loop. "I mean, even _I'd_ heard of that job, the NCR couldn't advertise their need of skilled engineers for that thing more if they tried, which I'm sure they are."

Ruby followed her gaze thoughtfully. "In all honesty I'd love to go and work on Hoover." Even if it did mean she'd have to work alongside tens of other engineers. She didn't tend to get along well with other mechanics because they had a tendency to underestimate her, only to be proved wrong when she showed them up; then they'd just resent her. It made for a less than agreeable working relationship.

"Then why not? I bet they're paying handsomely for anyone that can get that behemoth running."

Ruby rubbed at her neck; the cut had healed and faded but the memory of that blade pressed up against her throat was as fresh as ever. "The casinos on the strip don't have enough money to make me get that close to _them_."

Veronica hummed her understanding. "The Legion." Both shared a grimace at their mention; you'd be hard pressed to find a group, west of the Colorado, which looked favourably on the Roman-styled force.

"Yeah." Ruby admitted reluctantly. "The further I am away from those bastards the better." Veronica's brow quirked at this, Ruby had told her about the run in at Nipton, but there was some serious venom in her words there. She left it alone though as Ruby let out a long sigh, running a hand through her long hair to calm herself down. "But then if I want to find another job the NCR's offering I'd have to go to McCarren and _they'd_ probably just have me fixing up their planes or something."

"That doesn't sound too bad." Veronica argued slowly; planes were rather fascinating to her; she'd never seen a functioning one and the Brotherhood had never recovered one either. It was only rumour that the NCR had managed to find a few and reverse-engineer their technology in the last few years. It not-so-coincidentally coincided with their discovery of Vault 53 as a matter of fact, as had a few of their other recent technological breakthroughs.

"No, working on a power station is one thing; that helps everyone whether the NCR like it or not. I _refuse_ to directly contribute to their military strength though; they can rise or fall on their own merit for all I care."

If Veronica had thought Ruby's words venomous before then now they were positively toxic; a very uncharacteristic snarl had settled on her usually bubbly features and her hands seemed to be reflexively clenching. "You seem to really dislike the NCR." She was a little shocked when Ruby suddenly whirled on her.

"And why shouldn't I!?" However she caught herself, turning away and taking a deep breath before scoffing. "And this, coming from you?"

Veronica chuckled, hoping to break the somewhat tense atmosphere that had descended over the pair. "Yeah well, I guess I have more reason to hate the NCR than most, given what they did to the Brotherhood; but that still doesn't explain you."

It took Ruby a minute where she seemed to be silently warring with herself but eventually she allowed her shoulders to slump defeated. "Well what am I supposed to say? They took away my home." She sighed deeply before looking ahead, eyes scanning the horizon for something that wasn't there. "I was thirteen when they found our Vault, old enough to be considered pretty much self-sufficient, but still young enough to be learning. Life could get pretty tedious at times, sure, the same crap breaking day in, day out…" She shrugged helplessly "…but it's all I ever knew and I was content."

Her brow furrowed as she tracked a small bird flitting across her field of view. "Then the soldiers came knocking. We had never even considered opening the door, not for generations; our sensors might be faulty after all. It could have still been a heavily-irradiated hellhole for all we knew. But the NCR got one whiff of our engineering talent and conscripted us into their territory as fast as they were physically able." Veronica was a little relieved when a bit of the usual Ruby shone through as the redhead chuckled.

"You might find this surprising but I'm considered a bit of an oddball where I come from." She looked up at Veronica's deadpan expression and grinned cheekily. "No, seriously; most in the Vault just considered what we did as a way of life. The NCR were a way out for them; no more having to worry if tomorrow would be the day the life-support systems malfunctioned for the last time, no more having to fix their food extruders every day just to eat." Her face twisted back into a scowl.

"So they all just left, like that; walked out the Vault and never looked back." She let out a long sigh, looking up at the sky with a weak smile. "It's pretty petty to blame the NCR for that, but I think I'm allowed to be a bit petty from time to time, right?"

Veronica just grinned supportively, raising a hand in mock-surrender. "Hey, I wasn't going to discourage it." She didn't exactly like the nation either. "I was just confused; you seemed to get on okay with the soldiers back at Helios just fine."

Finally Ruby seemed to come back to herself as she shot the scribe a smirk. "I'm petty, not stupid; I know that a single soldier doesn't represent the military, just like a single person doesn't represent their country. The people in the NCR are just like the people everywhere else in the wastes, trying to survive how they can."

Veronica nodded. "That's rather mature of you."

Ruby simply shrugged. "Eh, I still don't like them though, they took my home away so it'll take a long time for me to forgive them for that."

At that, Veronica mirrored her smirk. "Well then we both have that in common."

"Oh right!" Ruby exclaimed excitedly. "I can't believe I never asked before now but you said you were from Maxson Bunker right? The mythical stronghold of the Brotherhood that the NCR can't find to save their life."

Veronica's laugh caused a few birds nearby to take flight. "Well, I don't know about _mythical_ but yeah, I was born there."

Ruby's stride picked up speed a little as the conversation finally moved to comfortable ground. "Just another thing we have in common then, both being born underground."

And despite Ruby's earlier thoughts to the contrary, it turned out the two's upbringing wasn't all that dissimilar after all. Although not everything in Maxson bunker was falling apart on a daily basis, and Ruby never had to deal with such a regimented environment in Vault 53, there were definitely some overlaps. They discussed their shared experiences, as well as a few anecdotes of their time in their respective shelters, for quite a while.

However it was in the prolonged silence that followed their animated sharing that Veronica finally noticed something she hadn't even realised had been bugging her for a while. It was an almost inconsequential detail that had been nagging at the back of her mind ever since she met Ruby. More important things had been going on though and it hadn't been worth bringing up; now felt different.

"I can't help but notice," She started, breaking the comfortable quiet the two had lapsed into "but you don't seem to make any noise when you walk." It was true, despite walking along rough tarmac in rather worn sneakers Ruby's feet didn't make so much as a whisper with each step.

The redhead looked down in confusion before making a silent 'o' with her mouth. "Oh wow, I've been doing this so long I just kind of forgot I was doing it." She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "It's something everyone in the Vault learns sooner or later, everyone can do it. Moving around in ventilation and maintenance ducts is really noisy, and it'd get pretty annoying after a while."

"You can't have been doing it _that_ often that it would necessitate everyone in the Vault learning it like some second nature…" However even as the words came out Veronica realised how stupid she sounded given what she knew about Vault 53.

Ruby shrugged. "Doors had some of the most common malfunctions, so most of the time we used the ducts as shortcuts or bypasses. Hell, some people didn't even check the doors and just went straight for the shafts." She grinned fondly. "I knew this great route from the living quarters to the kitchens, used to annoy the hell out of the Head Chef."

"But if they were such a problem, why didn't you just cut through the doors and be done with them?"

"Well, it wasn't as though we just had a bunch of plasma casters lying around; those doors were supposed to withstand the secondary concussive shock of a direct nuclear warhead blast you know…" Ruby explained with a roll of her eyes. "Plus, the air-purification system for a sector would occasionally malfunction and we'd have to quarantine the areas; can't do that without the doors."

"Ah well, that's fair enough I suppose." The young scribe felt a bit silly now, that had felt almost exactly like one of those times Elijah would berate her for not understanding a certain machine. He'd always talk down to her like she should just innately understand every little mechanism around her. Not for the first time Veronica was forced to draw some unsettling parallels between Ruby and her old mentor; the similarities were often disconcerting. "It's still weird though."

Veronica wasn't allowed to mope for very long though as soon enough the rest stop came into sight. They two could spot it even from a distance, a small community built atop the overpass between highways 95 and 93; the 188 trading post. Ruby was rather taken by it as Veronica showed her around; the quaint locale was small but full of activity.

It turned out the scribe had taken to using it as a kind of base of operations during her forays out from the bunker, so she was well known by the inhabitants. Just from a cursory glance though, Ruby could spot NCR soldiers, merchants, a Gun Runners' caravan and others amongst the various travellers. She was particularly impressed with the two founders of the rest-stop, Michelle Kerr and her father, Samuel. She was left alone with them when Veronica moved off to 'check something'.

However the two were the picture of friendliness as they greeted 'Veronica's new friend' with warm words and a warmer bowl of stew that sat well with the engineer after a long walk. Michelle in particular was intrigued by Ruby, asking her rapid-fire questions that ranged from where she hailed from, an explanation of the Vault suit, how she met Veronica and other… slightly more personal details. Soon enough though a hand was placed on the blonde barkeep's shoulder, her father's specifically.

"Leave her alone Michelle, can't you see the poor girl's exhausted?" Samuel cut in with what seemed like well-practiced exasperation. Ruby obviously wasn't the first to be put up to this kind of interrogation.

Ruby in fact wasn't all that sleepy, the warm food and a cold Nuka Cola perking her up a bit. However she caught the conspiratorial wink from the older man and nodded gratefully as Michelle reluctantly moved off to serve other customers.

"Sorry about that; we get all types through here with a lot of stories to tell. In comparison the humble life of a vendor can be pretty dull, so Michelle gets a bit... excited by new faces." The man admitted with a chuckle, looking across at his daughter with a fond smile. "She means well enough."

Ruby smiled nostalgically, it was nice to see a father and daughter get along so well; it made her wonder what her own was doing right about now, or if he was thinking of her. "It's no problem, really."

This time the man's laugh was a little more boisterous. "You try and tell me that in the morning after she's grilled you a bit more thoroughly." At that Michelle glanced over, as if sensing the topic of conversation.

"You better not be talking about me, dad. I have a ladle here I'm not afraid to use!" She warned seriously, waving the aforementioned instrument threateningly.

Samuel waved her off with a chuckle, but Ruby spotted him subtly rubbing a spot on his hip. "Anyway," His attention returned to the young machinist "You probably _should_ get some rest; I'm sure your road's been long and you could rest those feet some. Feel free to take a bed out back." He raised a hand as Ruby went to grab her money pouch. "No charge for tonight, we rarely get repeat business so we like to try and keep our regulars happy; any friend of Veronica's is a friend of ours."

Ruby smiled appreciatively as the man moved to serve other travellers, soon moving off herself. However despite Samuel's insistence, she didn't feel that tired, so instead she retired to a small hillock nearby, lying back on the dry grass and staring up at the sky. The stars were bright tonight, painting a glittering mural across the inky canvas of space.

"You should feel lucky you can even see them you know." She didn't react as Veronica lay down next to her, crossing her hands under her head and joining her in peering up at the heavens. "Before the reports from the eastern chapter were cut off a few years back, they told us you can hardly ever see the stars out there. In fact, everything about the east coast seems a lot worse that out here; they don't even have natural sources of clean water."

Ruby didn't react immediately, tracing the outline of a few constellations she knew. "Sounds bleak."

Veronica shrugged. "On the plus side, I heard they discovered this giant robot in the basement of the Pentagon." She practically felt Ruby quirk an eyebrow in bemusement. "I know, sounds like something out a cheesy sci-fi show right? Still, I wonder sometimes if they ever managed to get it to work." Ruby nodded her agreement, sounded like something right up her alley.

"So…" The scribe continued awkwardly, fishing for conversation seeing as Ruby seemed rather content to just stare at the sky silently "…you like stargazing?"

This time she managed to get Ruby to snort as the girl propped herself up on one elbow to turn to Veronica. "Not as much, no. It actually gets a bit boring after a while. But still, I like to imagine…" She trailed off, coughing into her hand as her cheeks coloured slightly. "Ah, no… nevermind."

Veronica joined her in sitting up, a grin now on her features as she lightly pushed the redhead's shoulder. "Oh go on, you can't just leave me hanging like that. What is it? I promise I won't laugh."

Ruby turned away but after a moment of thought she released a small sigh, wetting her lips as she considered how to phrase it. "Well, ever since I was a little girl… my dream's always been to, you know…" She leaned her head back and groaned up at the sky, taking a deep breath before blurting out "I've always wanted to go to space."

There was a moment of silence between them where, true to her word, Veronica didn't so much as smile. She did however gain a curious countenance as she followed Ruby's gaze up to the sky again, regarding it in a new light. "Space? Really?"

Ruby's shoulders sagged. "Well… yeah, I know it sounds stupid in a world where even basic amenities are scarce and coveted. It's just… I always envied the people of the past; they had just branched out into the wider universe, taken the next step forward." She grimaced, blowing a stray strand of hair away from her eyes. "Then a stupid, easily-avoidable war ruined everything and launched us back into a technological dark-age."

Veronica glanced at the redhead. "Easily avoidable?"

Ruby shrugged, reaching into her satchel and pulled out a Microfusion cell; the innocuous little thing hummed innocently in her hand. "Well sure; I mean, look at these things. Clean energy with no waste, the answer to the world's energy crisis. Yet they were still fighting over things like fossil fuels." Her head flopped back. "Ten years, it would have probably taken ten years for these to disseminate to the rest of the world."

Veronica frowned; she had never honestly given it that much thought. "Things would be different though; the two of us would never have been born."

Ruby grinned. "And there lies the paradox, I want to live in a world I could never exist in." Another sigh. "No point dwelling on what could have been though." She lay back down and chuckled. "You know, it's funny, I hated the Legion even before I met them. Not for the slavery, not for the people they slaughter, not because of their sexism… but because they occupy the Four States Commonwealth."

Veronica frowned, still propping herself up and looking at the redhead curiously. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Even before the war, there were only handful of places capable of taking people into space, the two closest to us would be Houston and Bloomfield." She waved her hand airily. "Obviously the former's impossible, everyone knows Texas is a hell-hole filled with radioactive tornados miles wide. And Bloomfield is in Arizona… right in the middle of Legion territory." She turned to Veronica, a strange, lopsided smile pulling at her lips. "Am I a bad person for hating a despicable group because they just happen to live in one of the only places on earth that might still be capable of making space-travel possible?"

Veronica shrugged. "I don't think it's a bad thing to hate the Legion for any reason to be honest."

At that Ruby could only grin, glad to see that Veronica didn't think less of her for her silly dream and her sillier hate. "I suppose." The two stayed relatively quiet after that, at least until it came time for them to go to sleep, whereupon Ruby retired with pleasant thoughts and a slightly lighter heart. She had never told anyone her dream before for fear of being laughed at for her naivety; it felt as though some burden had been lifted from her shoulders.

* * *

Night came and went without much fanfare, filled with dreams of space and rockets; the morning sun quickly stirred everyone in the small trading post from their slumber. Ruby just about managed to get away from Michelle after a question-filled breakfast and soon she and Veronica were sitting on the edge of the concrete overpass, discussing their options.

"You know, as dead-set as you are against going to McCarren, it might still be our best bet." Veronica argued. "The NCR will likely have plenty of jobs for a skilled mechanic and if the Brotherhood's intelligence is correct the OSI have an office there."

Ruby just laughed. "Even if they did, you've seen how stingy the NCR are with their money, so unless they have any more power stations just lying around in need of fixing, we're probably not getting the same payoff as we did at Helios. Anyway, I refuse to work for the OSI; those guys have about as much ethical conscience when it comes to technology as the Legion; they're just better funded." There was a certain amount of spite in her words that was hard to hide.

"Still…" Veronica countered "…would helping the NCR really be the worst thing? Aren't they the better of two evils if the alternative is the Legion flooding across the dam and taking the Mojave?"

Ruby waved her off nonchalantly. "Please, there's little chance of that happening. Even if the Legion makes some gains across the Colorado that just gives the politicians back in Shady Sands the pull to conscript even more troops. They would stop their expansion into the north and consolidate their position. Eventually the Colorado would become even more entrenched than it is now. Barring something huge happening, nobody is moving over that river any time soon." She rubbed her throat lightly, wincing at a certain memory. "At least not in force."

Veronica stared at the girl, intrigued by the political insight. "Something huge? What would that take?"

Ruby shrugged, forgetting her phantom pain for the moment. "Could be a few things I guess, on both sides…" She looked up in thought. "The Legion could conquer a new tribe that gave them some tactical edge…" Her head tilted. "The NCR could discover some old-world weapon like…" She coughed into her hand "… like, well, like ARCHIMEDES." She smiled sheepishly. "However the first thing that comes to mind is the Brotherhood and the NCR joining forces."

Veronica scoffed dismissively. "That would never happen."

Ruby could only shrug. "Maybe not, but with the Brotherhood's superior tactics, advanced weaponry and education, combined with the NCR's structure, numbers and resources… well; if I was the Legion I'd be wary of that kind of force." She kicked her feet lazily. "Still, that's all just conjecture and doesn't really help our own financial situation."

Veronica nodded, affirming that Ruby was definitely against McCarren. "Well, if you want money you can always try Vegas; who knows, you might be a dab-hand at gambling?" She only said it jokingly, but when she looked across at Ruby the girl seemed to be genuinely considering it.

After a moment though she shook her head. "Nah, I don't even know how to play cards."

Veronica blinked incredulously. "Really?"

The redhead leaned back defensively. "What? It wasn't exactly high on the priority list in the Vault and when I was a courier I was too busy to stop and learn a card game."

Veronica was silent for a while before suddenly standing up without a word and walking off back toward the Kerr's stall.

"Hey where are you going?" Ruby called after her.

"This cannot be allowed to stand." Was the only reply she received.

A few moments later she returned, Michelle in tow. The blonde had a pack of cards in hand and was expertly shuffling them in rapid, hard to follow movements. The young vendor would later reveal that she had learned a myriad of card games to pass the time when business was slow. She was adept at them because there was never a shortage of potential opponents in the travellers passing through.

"Are you seriously going to teach me cards, _now_?" Ruby sighed in exasperation; they needed to be thinking about how to make money, not how to lose it at the tables.

"Absolutely." Both Michelle and Veronica said in unison, turning and grinning at one another at the synchronicity.

"Blackjack specifically." Veronica elaborated.

"It's the easiest to learn and has the least edge towards the house or dealer." Michelle continued, having finished shuffling. "Which in this case, will be me."

Ruby sighed, seeing that she wouldn't be able to say no to the two girls. "Fine." She grouched, getting up and following them over to a nearby table where Michelle began to deal out a few cards from the deck.

The blonde grinned mischievously as she laid down two cards in front of her, cracking her knuckles in what Ruby guessed was supposed to be an intimidating gesture. "I warn you, I've gotten a lot of practise at this and haven't been beaten for months."

"Okay, how are you doing this!?" Michelle cried out, throwing down her cards in irritation as Ruby raked in her money for the sixth game in a row. Veronica put her own cards down as well but there was more of a bemused resignation in her expression than anything else. "This is just absurd, there's no way you have this kind of beginner's luck." The games had started normally enough, with Ruby struggling to pick up the mechanics of the game, and making quick, heavy losses.

However as time progressed and the redhead slowly learned the rules she suddenly seemed to be unbeatable, winning game after game and raking back in everything she lost, with interest. She was grinning broadly as she pulled the bottlecaps towards her; they weren't exactly playing for big money, just a couple of caps a game, but it was just as satisfying.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't get what the fuss is about, it's pretty easy once you know the trick to it."

Both Veronica and Michelle stared at her incredulously. "Trick?" They asked in unison, once again showing scary synchronisation.

"You know…" Ruby explained slowly "…it's just a probability game. When low cards are discarded it favours me, when high cards are discarded it favours the dealer. I just keep a track of that in my head and act accordingly."

Again, the other two girls just stared unbelievingly. "But that's…" Michelle started.

"…card counting!" Veronica finished for her.

Ruby just looked curious. "So there's a name for it? Cool."

The other two could only shake their head in wonderment as Michelle turned to Veronica. "You know what this means right?" The scribe looked at the blonde dumbly, still struggling to comprehend how Ruby had managed to work out card counting within an hour of learning the game itself. "You two definitely have to go to Vegas." Once again both of their gazes turned to Ruby, who leaned back from their combined stare.

"What?"


	9. One small step

**To own or not to own... that is so not the question, for 'tis far nobler in the mind to suffer the super-sledges and lasers of apocalyptic fortune, than to screw up a fantastic franchise like Fallout.**

* * *

 _"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity_." – Albert Einstein

* * *

Later that morning, after a few more hands of blackjack to make sure what Ruby was doing wasn't some kind of fluke, they did indeed set off for New Vegas. Ruby was still sceptical of the idea, citing that it could just prove to be a huge waste of time and quickly rid them of what money they _had_ managed to get. However she was eventually swayed by the argument that even if they did start losing hard at the casinos, Vegas was a big town and they were sure to find some kind of work there.

Her scepticism continued though and the two found the walk north surprisingly quiet and awkward. Usually the pair had no end of things to talk about, now only the squeak of PD's tires eased the monotony of broken tarmac and sand. That changed though when Ruby, squinting ahead at something in the distance, suddenly made a strange 'eep' and rushed forwards. Confused, Veronica chased after her, stopping in front of a large billboard that dominated one side of the road.

'Hold up rocketeers!' Was proudly emblazoned across the cracked paint, a cartoonish robot beckoning a couple of children forward. Underneath the strange mural it read: 'Blast up highway 95 to Repconn HQ in lovely Henderson.'

"So cool!" Ruby gushed shamelessly as she stared starry-eyed up at the sign. "I had no idea it was around here." She was doing an odd, muted jig on the spot, unable to tear her eyes away from it.

Veronica only knew the name Repconn from some of the pieces of tech the scouts occasionally brought into the bunker, but little else. "What's Repconn?" She asked curiously, only to immediately regret it as Ruby rounded on her with fire in her eyes.

"How can you not know? Repconn were some of the leading experts on space travel toward the end of the war, with secret test-sites all over the US! There were even rumours that they had cracked a safe, economical propulsion system that might have taken humanity to other planets with ease!" Excitement was rolling off of her in waves as she spoke, only for the redhead to suddenly deflate. "Of course, that was before the war and everything; their headquarters is probably just a crater now."

Veronica glanced between the billboard and the despondent engineer, a little put out. That was the most energy she had seen from Ruby all morning; she didn't want to go back to that awkward silence again.

"Why don't we go?"

Ruby looked up incredulously. "What?"

The scribe shrugged as if it were no big deal. "Sure; I mean, it's not out of the way or anything and who knows? It could still be there and we might even be able to take the tour." She said the last part with a joking smirk but at that point Ruby only barely seemed to be listening. She was suddenly enveloping Veronica in a bone-crushing hug with strength that belied her small frame. The older girl was caught off-guard, suddenly finding her nose buried in Ruby's scarlet locks.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" And with that she took off north again with a new spring in her step, her mind reeling with the possibilities she might find in the headquarters of an old-world aerospace pioneer. She didn't notice the frozen scribe she left behind, a tinge of pink colouring her cheeks. Veronica recovered admirably and quickly took off after her friend, a fresh smile tugging at her lips.

* * *

Henderson was a bit of an odd place; for all that it seemed untouched by the nuclear war of two centuries ago, it was still in a state of ruin. Collapsed buildings lined the streets of the small town, looking as though they had just… fallen apart at some point. It wasn't too surprising Veronica thought, the town was probably built to house Repconn employees; certain shortcuts were likely taken in its construction.

Not that it dissuaded Ruby in any way; she picked her way through the rubble with a smile, uncaring of the destruction around her as long as the gem at the centre survived. Soon enough, it too came into view and Veronica thought she might have to hold Ruby back lest the teen run straight through one of its walls in her excitement. To both girls' amazement though they spotted a few Mr Handy's, emblazoned with Repconn's logo, lazily making passes around the building's perimeter.

They didn't prove to be hostile and let the two pass without issue; Ruby figured they must be why the building was so well preserved compared to the rest of the ruined town. They likely drove off any daring scavengers looking to pick the place clean. She was proven somewhat right as she pushed through the large front doors only to be met with a horrific smell that nearly had her retching on the dusty linoleum floor.

A few feet away lay the charred and blackened corpses of four people wearing tattered clothes reminiscent of the tribals Ruby had met on her travels. The image was only enforced by the ram's skull one of them was wearing; however, oddly enough, scattered around them were some advanced-looking energy weapons.

"Urgh, Fiends." Veronica groaned, pulling the front of her shirt up to cover her nose; the corpses were still smoking lightly. When Ruby looked at her in confusion, still fighting down her breakfast, she elaborated. "Group of raiders that's been giving the NCR trouble in the last couple of years; brutal and not afraid to use anything they get their hands on. Rumour has it they're being supplied by a third-party." She kicked a laser rifle that was half-way melted through the middle. "No way they could get their hands on weapons like these otherwise, never mind use them."

Now that Ruby was somewhat able to ignore the smell she saw Veronica was right. All of the weapons bore signs of amateur usage; they were poorly maintained and one even showed signs of being critically overheated. She might not have the fondest disposition towards weapons, but the blatant abuse of technology was anathema to her. The two were broken out of their examination though by a synthesised, but friendly voice.

"Welcome to Repconn headquarters rocketeer! Come all this way to see our little facility, have you?"

Both girl's started, only to breathe a sigh of relief at the sight of the very unthreatening Mr Handy; it didn't even have any weapons.

"Oh uh, hello." Ruby greeted, more on reflex than anything.

"I am here to answer any and all questions you may have, within specified parameters." The robot continued as though it hadn't heard her. "And if you like, I can provide a tour of our museum." After that it just floated there expectantly, waiting for further input. It certainly didn't have to wait long though as Ruby practically leapt forward with stars in her eyes.

"Yes yes! We'll take a tour of the museum!" She nodded emphatically, making Veronica smile at her almost child-like excitement.

"Excellent, excellent." The tour guide spieled happily. "Please be patient, the tour will begin in just a moment." It floated off to what was obviously a pre-programmed position and, amusingly enough, cleared its throat. "Ready for the Repconn tour rocketeers?" It announced to the empty room; however Veronica couldn't help but note that Ruby seemed to contain enough excitement to stand in for a normal crowd.

The scribe tuned out somewhat as the robotic guide led them into an adjacent room, beginning its recorded message. As interesting as what it was saying was, it was far more interesting to watch Ruby's amazement as the redhead hung on every word. Even when the guide showed them a scale model of what was clearly an illegal dumping ground, she listened with rapt attention, drinking in every detail.

If she thought this was the limit of the former Vault-dweller's childish glee though, she was quickly proven wrong as they were led into a room containing scale models of some of Repconn's early rocket prototypes. Here the young engineer couldn't help but ceaselessly grill the tour guide for every last drop of information it could provide.

Veronica couldn't even keep up with half the information and apparently the guide couldn't keep up with the questions as some kind of safety protocol activated and forced him to continue the tour. Ruby was a little put out that she didn't get to find out what fuel injection system the R77-293A used, but was swiftly pacified as the next room revealed a number of prototype robots that were in development before the war. Veronica actually stopped her bemused examination of Ruby at this point to listen in.

"…highlight of our exhibit!" The tour guide droned. "Due to a generous donation from RobCo, this next exhibit showcases…"

Veronica raised an eyebrow; so it was true then that RobCo really was dipping its fingers into a number of subsidiaries just before the bombs dropped. The Brotherhood had been interested in this phenomenon for a long time, but little ever came from digging into it. It had seemed like somebody was trying to build a monopoly on many advanced research projects right up to those last days. However any prying their scribes tried to do had been rebuffed by advanced firewalls that deleted a lot of sensitive information.

"This is the final stop on our tour."

Veronica looked back up from her introspection as the guide made to move again, this time through a large set of double doors. Ruby wasn't the only one gaping though when it opened, the young scribe was just as captivated.

"This model of our solar system is a small example of where the partnership between RobCo and Repconn hopes to go."

The room was designed so that the walls appeared like you were really staring into space, while a small railing prevented people from walking into the model itself. Around a large spherical sun, numerous planets and tiny rockets hurtled around the room. Both girls followed their flights with silent awe, completely ignoring the guide as it wrapped up its tour spiel. It soon hovered off, likely to await the next batch of tourists that might never come, but Ruby and Veronica remained.

"Wow." The engineer intoned breathlessly, walking forward to lean on the railing. She reached up to brush Jupiter as it lazily drifted by, only to find herself a little too short to reach it. Veronica couldn't help but laugh as the shorter girl hopped up and down trying to touch the faux gas-giant. It did at least serve to bring Ruby's attention back to her for the first time since they stepped through Repconn's doors.

"How amazing is all of this?" She marvelled, reaching out with her arms to emphasize the entire room.

"Very." Veronica agreed with a small smile, allowing Ruby to go back to looking at the various planets and ships swinging around. However the scribe wasn't looking at the model anymore, she was staring at the hyper engineer as she moved about energetically, framed by the light of the fake sun.

The two stayed there a while longer, discussing the tour, talking about the diorama, testing each other's knowledge about the solar system; well, Ruby did most of the talking. For a while it was like the wastes outsides didn't exist, like the war never happened and they were just two normal girls enjoying themselves. Veronica found that weightless sensation, the lack of responsibilities she had spent her whole life surrounded by, pleasant.

Even Ruby's seemingly boundless energy had its limits though and eventually they made their way back through the small museum. It was on the way out of the building that Ruby noticed something they had been distracted from on their way in. The Fiends' corpses were all surrounding a certain door, as if they had been trying to break in. Veronica didn't even notice Ruby move off until she reached the entrance; she looked back when she heard a beep only to see Ruby fiddling with a terminal next to the door.

"Annnd… presto." The redhead muttered as the door swung open to reveal… an office; at least, it looked like one with its rows of desks topped with average-looking terminals. "Aww, well that's disappointing." She murmured, before walking in anyway; Veronica could only roll her eyes and trudge in after her.

"What are you doing now?"

Ruby shrugged as she walked past a desk, idly turning the computer on and scanning the screen quickly. "Dunno, those guys outside were trying to get in here, must be something valuable." It could be something interesting that she could play with, or something they could sell.

"Or…" Veronica drawled, glancing around the unimpressive room "…they saw all the robots outside and _thought_ there was something valuable."

Ruby shrugged again. "There _were_ a lot of robots, maybe they were right." She grinned as she made for the stairs on the other side of the room only to pause as she glanced down an adjacent corridor. "Something that could be hidden behind a door just like _that_?"

Veronica caught up and stared at the heavy-duty blast door that looked remarkable out of place against the peeling plaster of the office. She didn't get much of a chance to examine it before Ruby made a beeline for the adjacent terminal. She cursed a moment later though, biting her thumb in irritation as she looked at the boot-up readout.

"Damn, this terminal doesn't have the usual password back-up system as normal RobCo stuff, must've been specially made." She tried a few command prompts but all of them flashed a warning red back at her. "Nope, gonna need a password or I'm not cracking this." She ran a hand through her hair; it wasn't every day she met a computer she couldn't hack. "Right." She turned and marched up the stairs, Veronica staring bemusedly at her back.

"What now?" she sighed in exasperation.

Ruby blew a loud raspberry back down the stairs. "I've been challenged!"

* * *

Making their way up through the offices upstairs proved remarkably easy; there were robotic sentries that asked for identification but Ruby knew RobCo overrides that could have them doing pirouettes and they posed no obstacle. They checked a few of the terminals on the second floor but Ruby seemed adamant that 'all of the important stuff will be on the top floor', so they didn't stick around long.

As much as Veronica was outwardly exasperated by Ruby's antics as the girl treated the whole affair like some adventure, inwardly she was having fun. That all stopped when they reached the third floor, specifically at a corridor where part of the ceiling that had caved in. She was laughing at Ruby tripping over a piece of rubble one moment, eyes wide and calling out in shock the next.

"Trenner!" She ran down the hall to where a man could clearly be seen half-crushed by fallen concrete. Harder to make out was the person next to him who had met a similar fate, only their arm visible underneath the collapsed ceiling. Ruby walked over more slowly, coming to understand the situation when she spotted what the man was wearing; power armour. He was obviously a member of the Brotherhood.

Veronica seemed uncertain what to do; the men were obviously dead, and had been for at least a few days. What's more, there was no way they were going to get them out from under the wreckage; it would be too heavy for even the two of them and their armour wasn't exactly light. Eventually the scribe reached into the armour and pulled out a set of faintly glowing dog-tags; she couldn't even do that much for the other man.

"Did you know him?" Ruby asked quietly, equally as unsure of what to do as Veronica stood up slowly.

"Not well… I guess, but living in such a small space, you get to now everyone's faces." She replied in a faint, distant kind of voice. "I guess the other one must be Yaxley, those two were always sent out on patrol together." After that she fell quiet and, unsure of what else to do, Ruby left her a moment to either grieve, or just to think. Instead the redhead wandered into a rather large room that was mostly taken up by a large, ornate desk.

This, combined with the rich red of the carpet that could be made out through centuries of dust, led her to believe this was the CEO's office. She sat down in the large swivel chair, booting up the computer to take her mind off of Veronica just outside. Like one might have imagined, it was filled with very boring reports on the various sectors of Repconn. She scrolled down aimlessly while looking around the room; the most interesting thing she spotted was a Rubik's cube on the desk.

She picked it up and idly tossed it up and down as she scrolled, only to nearly drop the thing as a specific file caught her eye. She clicked on [Test-sites] and was rewarded with another list of files, each one code-named. Within each of those were pictures, diagrams, schematics, reports… everything that a young technician with dreams of space could want. Immediately she set about copying all of it onto her Pip-boy, suddenly excited that her childish dream might not be just that, a dream.

Veronica walked in while this was happening, her face set and resolute; however seeing Ruby's excitement flare up again made her features soften. Seeing two of her fallen brothers like that was jarring, but death was just another fact of life in the wastes. Despite all the bunkers and rules and power armour they put between themselves and the outside world, the Brotherhood couldn't escape that.

Putting it behind her she picked up the Rubik's cube from where Ruby had placed it back on the desk, twisting it experimentally. "I think Scribe Taggart has one of these, but I don't think I've ever seen him so much as touch it; he keeps it in a glass case. Watkins once took it out to see what it did; I've never seen him get that angry with her before."

Ruby glanced up from her Pip-boy in confusion. "Why? It's just a toy." There had been a few lying around in the Vault; they were good logic problems and helped kept your hands busy.

Veronica twisted it a few more times, a consternated expression marring her features as she tried to imagine how it _should_ look. "Really? This thing?" It seemed a little… difficult to be a toy.

Ruby shrugged, ignoring the download for the moment to take the cube from her hands. Veronica could only watch in astonishment as with a precise number of twists and turns a completed Rubik's cube was set in front of her. "It's not too hard, just takes a bit of practise." Just as Veronica was about to take it back she quickly picked it and re-scrambled it, even faster than she had solved it. Before Veronica could even be upset about that though, they were both interrupted by a beeping from Ruby's wrist.

"What's that?" The scribe asked curiously, looking over the girl's shoulder to get an idea of what she was downloading.

"One of the files is too corrupted, my Pip-boy won't transfer it due to the safeties." She quickly scrolled down on the computer, locating the correct field and opening it. Sure enough it was a mess of jumbled words and characters with only the occasional word or sentence left readable. Squinting to make out what looked important the redhead scanned the page, only able to pick up the vaguest sense of what it was taking about.

"Quantum plasma modu... something… matter injection… something… version 35." She tilted her head in confusion; that was a long name, but it sure looked interesting. "Oh hey, it's listed as on-site!" She squinted a little closer. "I think…" She stood up, happy that the download of the rest of the data was complete. "I bet that's what's behind that blast door." She grinned happily, shaking her arm. "And now I have the access codes."

"Well then…" Veronica started, trying to match Ruby's enthusiasm and put her fallen brothers out of her mind "…let's go see what it is."

* * *

"You shouldn't be so disappointed." Veronica placated uselessly, looking down at the prototype in her hands. "It's still a pretty interesting piece of tech, right?"

Ruby just walked on ahead despondently, looking down at the dusty ground and sighing every so often as they headed north. "It's a weapon…" She mumbled pathetically for what seemed like the twentieth time.

"The energy conversion on it though, it's pretty advanced; more so than other plasma rifles." Veronica argued in an attempt at consolation.

"Just a weapon…" The redhead murmured again, as though she hadn't heard her.

"Is it so bad that it's a weapon? I mean, ARCHIMEDES was a weapon." She felt as though she was going in circles here, however she was surprised when Ruby actually stopped in the middle of the road.

"She's comparing a space laser to a rifle now…" She muttered, before shambling right on again, still with a proverbial dark cloud hanging over her head.

A vein pulsed threateningly on Veronica's forehead. "I'm just trying to help here you know!"

"It's a weapon…"

The scribe just sighed and stared down at the innocent-looking rifle in her hands. Ruby's disappointment that the prototype the Repconn files detailed was just an advanced plasma-rifle prototype was… pronounced, to say the least. She had been ready to just leave it behind, citing that the world had enough weapons as it was. Veronica had decided to take it along anyway; if nothing else it would make a nice curio for either Scribe Taggart or Knight Lorenzo. Maybe it would finally get her back in the bunker's good graces.

She slung it onto her back and took out the Rubik's cube again; she had decided to take it along too, upset at being shown up by Ruby. However no matter how many times she twisted it, she couldn't seem to get any closer to solving the damn thing. She stopped though when they crested a ridge and a recognisable silhouette faded into view, the enormous, saucer-topped tower of the Lucky 38. The sight alone seemed enough to break Ruby from her funk as both girls grinned at one another.

They had reached Vegas.

* * *

"Wow… now even I'm disappointed." Veronica grumbled with a lacklustre grimace marring her face. The two of them had certainly reached Vegas alright, or at least the grimy outer town that bordered Vegas-proper. 'Freeside', the supposed gateway into the last untouched remnant of the pre-war world as it was advertised, looked decidedly like the rest of the wasteland. Ruined and decaying buildings filled their sight while people eked out an existence on the streets.

The two couldn't wait to get through the dingy place and reach the casinos, where they had heard stories of a pre-war paradise. The neighbourhood looked rough though so the two mostly kept their heads down, Veronica still fiddling with the cube in frustration.

"Are you absolutely sure this things a toy?" She grouched once again, getting a bemused smile from Ruby as she watched the scribe's frustrated efforts.

"Absolutely, pretty popular back in the day if the Vault's archives were right." Which they often were.

Still, Veronica remained unconvinced. "How is a child supposed to solve this thing?" She complained, just about ready to throw it at the nearest wall.

Ruby shrugged, pointing to a young boy and girl who were running around the street, firing pretend guns at one another. "Well, the standards of education have kind of dropped in the last 200…" She trailed off though, noticing that the guns weren't quite as imaginary as she thought. The boy was actually holding a fairly hefty looking thing that looked like it belonged on the set of a cheesy sci-fi movie.

However it was distinct in the large, if not faded, logo of Poseidon energy emblazoned on its side. Poseidon energy, for all the companies it seized and controlled toward the end of the resource wars, did not make toys. She immediately ran over to the boy, wrenching the surprisingly heavy gun from his hands, much to his protests.

"Hey lady that's mine!" He began to pound on her leg rather pathetically as Ruby turned the device over and over in her hands, not quite believing what she was seeing. It was only when the boy gave her a particularly vicious kick to the shin that she remembered his existence. Wincing, she quickly took out a pouch of around a hundred caps and threw it at him. It was probably more money than he had seen in his life and he immediately stopped attacking her to pick it up and run off, the girl swiftly in tow.

"That wasn't very nice you know." Veronica complained as she caught up to the girl, however her protests were only half-hearted. She knew by now Ruby wasn't the kind to be cruel to a kid for no apparent reason.

"Never mind that." Ruby waved her off, motioning to the gun in her hand. "Look what he was running around with."

Veronica did look, only to see a weird, plasticky-looking toy gun. "I don't get it, what is it?"

Ruby sighed and turned the gun so that the scribe could see the Poseidon logo on the side. "It's a C-finder." Veronica just blinked, causing Ruby to sigh. "A rangefinder, something that uses Euclidian geometry to calculate a target point based off of two provided inputs." She explained slowly in a clearly exasperated tone.

This time Veronica frowned. "You know, before I met you, _I_ was the one explaining complicated ideas to other people, not the other way around. I'm a Brotherhood Scribe dammit." She pouted petulantly but nevertheless motioned for Ruby to continue.

"Basically it's a targeting device, whatever it points at is recognised as the corner of a theoretical triangle, the other two corners being the rangefinder itself and a satellite in orbit. However in this case…" She looked down at the innocent gun in her hand "…I think the satellite is ARCHIMEDES."

Veronica blanched. "Wait wait wait, the targeting device we couldn't find, is this thing?" Ruby nodded, causing Veronica to pale further. "Then you're saying a device we armed, that was designed to destroy underground bunkers… from space, was in the hands of a child this whole time?"

Ruby chuckled sheepishly at that. "It's a good thing the safety was on, huh?"

Veronica damn near had an apoplexy right there; instead she reigned in her anger and walked away a few steps, hand bunched into a fist and placed firmly into her mouth to stop her from screaming. _'We accidentally gave a child a superweapon. He could have razed half this town, killing hundreds! The NCR no doubt would have found it… they might have used it on the Brotherhood! If word ever got out about this they'd never let me come back. No, that's optimistic… they'd kill me for sure.'_

However as she was having an internal panic attack Ruby was gleefully looking over the little device, already picking it apart in her mind. Of course, that was rarely satisfactory and soon she _actually_ began to take it apart, unable to resist as she thought about the advanced transmitting software it must contain. When Veronica looked over from her own internal struggle and saw Ruby casually picking apart the machine that could have resulted in her own execution it was with a kind of detached resignation.

' _Of course she's taking it apart…'_ That vein on her forehead throbbed dangerously again _'…she's going to be the death of me, I just know it.'_ Still, seeing how happy the girl was tinkering with the city-devastating technology, she couldn't help but just sigh and accept it, walking back over with a weak smile.

"So, we finally got the targeting device; are you going to do a test fire?" She asked curiously; a decidedly large part of her was very curious to see just how powerful this space laser actually was. However Ruby simply glanced up, her face the picture of shock a she subconsciously shifted the rangefinder away from the scribe.

"What? No! Why would I ever want to fire this thing?" She looked absolutely horrified at the thought.

Veronica blinked. "But you seemed so excited about it when we discovered it…"

Ruby nodded emphatically, still frowning. "Because it's a technological marvel! Because it was a challenge! Because I wanted to know if I _could_ fix it! But it's still a weapon and it could hurt a lot of people!"

Veronica pouted at that, feeling a little hurt. "I didn't mean to use it _on_ anyone, I meant, just out in the desert or something." She kicked the ground. "It's not every day you get to see a laser powerful enough to be fired from space."

Ruby calmed a little at that, releasing a breath she hadn't realised she had been holding. "Well as true as that is for us, it's true for everyone else too. What do you think the NCR, or really anybody would do if they saw an enormous lance of light come out of the sky? They'd investigate." She shook her head resolutely. "People like that, people in power, once they catch a whiff of a weapon like this they'd be relentless in its pursuit." She looked down at herself, looking at her skinny arms that were made for fixing, not fighting. "How long do you think just the two of us would be able to hold them off?"

Veronica was appropriately pacified at that and quickly dropped the idea, allowing Ruby to go back to tinkering with the device. "So what are you doing with it then?"

"I'm checking to see if the targeting software can be extrapolated." She explained, a little defensively. "If it is, then it could theoretically be hooked up to a powerful satellite dish array and be used to target anywhere in the US, possibly even the world if it could piggyback off multiple satellites."

Veronica actually stopped in the street. "You know, for somebody who abhors the idea of using it as a weapon, you seem very up for making it more effective _as_ a weapon!"

Ruby just waved her off dismissively. "It's just a thought experiment. Where would I find a powerful radio satellite in a nuclear wasteland?"

Veronica sighed and, after a moment of consideration where she wondered if it would be better to cut her losses and just run, she walked after the chipper redhead.

' _She really is going to be the death of me…'_


	10. Stripped down

**Fallout New Vegas is about gambling right? Maybe I could challenge Todd for the rights...**

* * *

 _"_ _There are three roads to ruin; women, gambling and technicians. The most pleasant is with women, the quickest is with gambling, but the surest is with technicians._ _"_ – Georges Pompidou

* * *

It turned out things got a little better the further they moved through Freeside; with the neon lights and partially-restored building it really was starting to feel like Vegas. The fact that there were a few smaller casinos about also added to the atmosphere. However no sooner did they talk about possibly going to the Atomic Wrangler down the street – to test out Ruby's newfound gambling skills – were they accosted by a young man. He had the strangest appearance, wearing what looked to be stylised, old-world prison clothing and an absurdly large quiff.

"Hey hey!" He greeted with a cheesy accent. "What's a fine couple 'a young ladies like yourselves doing wandering these streets all alone?" He completed the outlandish appearance with an accentuated flick of his hips.

Ruby actually blinked, looking down at herself in surprise. She was wearing a dishevelled Vault suit, unzipped to reveal an oil-stained white vest, her somewhat greasy hair was barely held together in a pony-tail and every exposed inch of skin was covered in dust from the long walk to the city. For a brief moment she wondered if this was some elaborate ploy to rob them as she leaned toward Veronica. "Fine? I look like I've just done a speed run through a mile-long maintenance shaft." Veronica snickered at that; admittedly she didn't look much better.

"I hope you girls weren't planning on waltzing right down this here street and right on into Vegas, uh huh?" The weird man continued, grunting in a very forced manner at the end.

Veronica raised an eyebrow, power fist clenching slowly beneath her long-sleeved robe. "And what if we were?"

The man grinned, shooting pretend guns at the two with his fingers. "Hey hey baby, nobody goes through Freeside without first going through the King, uh huh."

Veronica smirked at that as she brought her hands up, revealing the weapon this time as she cracked her knuckles. "And if we don't want to meet 'the King'?" Beside her Ruby's hand twitched over the VATs activator while PD clicked the safeties off its weapons and ED-E beeped warningly.

The man put his hands up placatingly, never dropping the cheesy smirk. "Hey baby, no violence on the Kings' turf, ya get me?" However he quickly made the same gun gesture as before. "But that weren't no request, uh huh." Slowly a few more similarly dressed and styled men walked out of nearby alleyways, all of them bearing weapons. Veronica may have had better training and they had PD on their side, but Ruby didn't like their chances against five submachine guns, even held by amateurs.

Reluctantly the two were lead into a garishly decorated building that seemed to have been some kind of pre-war school; although what kind Ruby couldn't say. For some reason though the name 'the King' as well as the way these men were dressed was ringing some distant bell in her head that, infuriatingly enough, wouldn't quite click. It was only when they were lead into some kind of performance hall, right up to a man wearing a particularly suave suit that she remembered.

"Oh, you guys are all dressed like that singer from the fifties! What's-his-name… Elvis!" Man, her dad loved his music, always had it blaring whenever he spent long hours down in the reactor. All of the surrounding men stared at her in shock, however the sitting man maintained an easy-going smile. Now that Ruby got a chance to look at him, she had to say he did bear a striking resemblance to the man she had seen on her dad's old holo-tapes.

"Well well, so you know about the one true king?" His voice was smooth and confident and, unlike the man that had confronted them in the street – whose actions seemed a little forced and rehearsed – he seemed to exude a natural charisma that just couldn't be taught. "Now ain't that interesting." He looked up, facing the men who had brought them in. "Now what were you lot doing harassing a couple of pretty ladies huh? Scat now." Unlike last time the idle compliment seemed entirely genuine and Ruby couldn't help the slight blush that overcame her cheeks; Veronica at least seemed to be keeping herself together, scowling at all of them.

"But, King, you said…" One of the men tried to speak, only to get shooed again by the Elvis-looking man. They quickly scurried away, leaving the three of them alone in the large room.

"Terribly sorry about that, my boys tend to get a bit… overzealous, over me." He gave an easy smile that nearly had Ruby melt into a puddle; however Veronica quickly snapped her out of it when she grunted irritably.

"Well? Does that mean we can go?" She asked bluntly, hand clenching and unclenching.

The King waved his hand airily. "Now I don't know about all that, why don't you two pull up a chair? Maybe we can get you some drinks? Looks like you've had a long road." He chuckled and Ruby found herself wanting to laugh along with him.

Veronica's eyes narrowed as she grabbed Ruby's arm. "That's alright, we have things to do anyway." She made a move to walk out only to stop, looking down curiously as something moved into her path. Ruby looked over her shoulder only to blink curiously.

"Huh, a cyber-dog." She mused absently, and sure enough a heavily augmented dog with two robotic legs, its brain visible inside of a glass dome, had sat in their path, happily wagging its tail. Or perhaps not so happily as it suddenly gave a low whine and scratched at its brain case with its paw. "Doesn't seem to be doing too well." Ruby observed bluntly.

"Ahh, that's Rex, my faithful companion; yeah he ain't been doing too good as of late. I asked the boy's to look out for anyone with a technological know-how about them." He glanced at Ruby's oil-stained appearance hopefully. "I don't suppose that's why they brought you gals in?"

Veronica felt her resolve to leave waver as she looked down at the poor dog; it really didn't look to be in the best shape.

She turned and looked at Ruby only to find the redhead with her arms crossed and brow raised. "Hey, don't look at me."

Veronica blinked in surprise. "You can't do anything? I would have thought…" She looked down at the dog, noticeably at its robotic replacements.

Ruby shrugged helplessly. "Robotics and cybernetics are two very different things. I was never good at biology… it's full of squishy things that never seem to make sense." She shook her head. "No, I prefer machines, they're predictable and logical. Besides, it's not as though I'm missing an arm or anything." She waved both to prove it.

The King's face fell; even looking despondent though he seemed to give off a certain charisma, like Ruby just wanted to go and hug him. "So there's nothing you could do?"

Ruby's knees felt a little weak so she quickly turned away to regain her composure, crouching down in front of the dog and giving it a quick once over. She felt sorry for the poor creature, it was obviously in quite a bit of pain; she let out a sigh. "I could probably clean up the robotic parts, those not integrated into his body anyway…" The King rose a little in his chair "…but that's not his problem." She rocked back on the balls of her feet as the King sank back down.

"I've seen this kind of degradation in Robo-brains before, it's the bio med-gel. After a while the stuff loses its potency and stops preserving the living tissue." She gave another helpless shrug as she looked at the King's uncomprehending expression. "Rex's brain is dying, slowly. Normal procedure would be to replace the gel and the brain; Rex would survive, with all his memories too, but he'd never quite be the same."

"And you know how to perform this procedure?" The King asked, obviously uncertain of whether to be excited or apprehensive; even Veronica looked anxious of the answer.

Ruby had to disappoint them though as she shook her head. "No, like I said biology isn't my thing." Before the King sank even further into his chair she quickly continued. "But that doesn't mean I don't know people who do." She took out a piece of paper and quickly scribbled something on it. "If you talk to this guy in the Hub, he should know a few people that could perform this kind of transplant; probably won't be cheap though." She stood up with a grin, being a courier at least meant you met a lot of useful people.

"Well, if it's for Rex here, money's no object." The King said excitedly, taking the paper and carefully tucking it into his suit. "And now I'm indebted to you young lady, is there anything I could do to return the favour?" Ruby had to struggle to stay on her feet as he flashed her a dazzling smile; luckily he continued without waiting for an answer. "I don't suppose you two need passports to get into Vegas?"

"Passports?" Veronica cut in. "I didn't know we needed anything like that."

"Well, unless you can pass the credit check of two thousand caps, each."

Ruby muttered a curse under her breath; they had received the equivalent of four thousand for the Helios job but between buying provisions and food for the trip north, they were now just under that. The King seemed to notice and gave her another smile, clicking his fingers as two of the gang members quickly rushed into the room. "Draw up two passports for these lovely ladies." The two men rushed off again. "That should only take around twenty minutes." He turned to Ruby. "Now you mentioned something about being able to help Rex a little?"

* * *

"You know, the photo _is_ very flattering, but that doesn't mean you have to keep staring at it Ruby." Veronica sighed in exasperation as the aforementioned redhead nearly walked right into a lamp post. She hadn't taken her eyes off the little passport image since it had been handed to her.

"Speak for yourself, I've _never_ looked this good before." The young engineer practically giggled; it was a very disconcerting sound coming from the usually down-to-earth girl. As thanks for helping Rex out with a few adjustments to his mechanical parts, the King had offered to allow them to 'clean up' a bit, before their passport photos were taken.

This essentially meant being put under the rather scrutinising care of one Sergio, the Kings' resident stylist. He took one look at the two grimy travellers and immediately bustled them out of his small studio, refusing to even _look_ at them again until they'd washed up. Ruby wasn't complaining, it felt like months since she had last had a hot shower; likely because it had been months; they weren't exactly common.

She had gotten her Vault suit back afterwards, washed and pressed, but the white vest was apparently a 'write-off' and Sergio said he himself had burned the offending item. Ruby was a little irked, but no more so than Veronica, whose entire outfit had been disposed of as 'wasteland rags'. Instead she had been presented with a comfy pair of fake-denim jeans that had been rolled up at the cuff as well as a white t-shirt a few sizes too big, so it hung off one of her shoulders.

Veronica looked distinctly uncomfortably sitting in the man's barber chair as he carefully scrutinised her hair. Honestly it looked as though she had cut it herself, all ragged ends and messy angles. It was clear from their conversations that Veronica was… not a fan, of her hair. However even she was goggling slightly when she was finally let out of the chair.

Ruby felt a little jealous, while her features were a bit rounder and better described as 'cute', Veronica definitely had a more feminine face; slimmer, with angles in the right places. The new style only accentuated these features rather than take away from them. It was kept rather short, a pixie cut of sorts, but softer than the normal spiky style. Even Sergio seemed impressed with his own work, stepping back from the chair and flicking his straight-razor expertly.

"I have worked a miracle, thank me at your own leisure." He announced with a somewhat deserved sense of grandeur; Ruby laughed unashamedly at Veronica's consternated expression until Sergio turned to her. "Your turn red." Her go in the chair was decidedly shorter, the man simply tidied up her bangs and trimmed her pony-tail until it hung just shy of the base of her neck.

Then the two were rushed into what looked like an actual photography studio, which made them wonder just what kind of gang the Kings really were. Embarrassingly, when Ruby kept trying to zip her vault suit up to cover the fact she wasn't wearing anything underneath, the photographer kept huffing in annoyance before rushing forward and unzipping it again… all the way down to the belt. She felt as though her cheeks were about to smoke from all the blood rushing there.

It was Veronica's turn to laugh at her as she was forced into various poses that just barely maintained her modesty. The scribe was given an easier time of it, her shirt couldn't get any more scandalous than it already was so she got off a lot lighter. The kicker was when they finally received their photos only to find they were cropped at the collarbone. Ruby felt like some ornate prank had been pulled on her as she pulled her zip up as high as it would go, intending to find some way of locking it there.

Still, as they moved up the street to the New Vegas gates she could help but admire herself, trying to compare the girl in the picture to the scruffy-looking engineer she usually saw in the mirror. Likewise she had caught Veronica sneaking subtle glances at her own photo, occasionally reaching a hand up to touch her hair only to think better of it, as though by touching it she would shatter the illusion.

"You know, maybe you _should_ keep the zip a bit lower."

Ruby jolted as Veronica suddenly spoke up, looking down at the shorter girl appraisingly.

"You shouldn't be afraid to show off a bit of skin you know."

However before the redhead could stutter off her indignant protests to the contrary, the two had already reached the gates to Vegas-proper. Ruby had to shelf her current objections as she noticed just what was guarding said entrance; no less than half a dozen Securitrons. She shot a nervous glance at PD, who had been faithfully trundling along beside them, but there was no immediate hostilities from the guards so the duo continued forward.

"Submit to a credit check or present your passport before proceeding to the gate. Trespassers will be shot." The hulking machine droned in a buzzing monotone that was distinctly unlike Victor's corny voice. It certainly managed to be intimidating though with its stern caricature of a policeman displayed on its screen. Or perhaps that was the fact that there were five others all staring at the duo, looking ready to open fire at a moment's notice.

"Here." Ruby opened her passport as Veronica did the same beside her; the machine didn't react, but after a moment it wheeled back slowly.

"Thank you ma'am, you may proceed." It rumbled passively as its fellows all looked away disinterestedly. The two walked on hesitantly, just waiting for that moment when the Securitron noticed their companion, or their passports turned out to be fake, or this was all some elaborate trap and they were about to be gunned down from behind. It never came though, they reached the gate and the two nearest robots dutifully pushed it open with the screech of rusted metal.

"You said you might have pissed off the guy who owns the Securitrons right?" Veronica whispered, leaning over to Ruby nervously.

"I might be beginning to regret that…" Ruby admitted, before falling silent as the gates finished opening and all further thought was robbed from them both.

Vegas stretched out in front of them; glittering, shining streets filled with glaring lights and the steady din of excited people. The pair were rendered speechless by the enormous buildings, neon signs and general buzz that seemed to permeate the air. The strip itself was a single long, unbroken street of tarmac that still looked as fresh as the day it was paved. On either side towering buildings – each with their own distinct aesthetic – rose up almost oppressively, beckoning with sweet promises of riches and excitement within.

The glamour was swiftly shattered as an NCR trooper, clearly drunk off his ass, stumbled past the pair and spewed all over the sidewalk. Both girls wrinkled their nose at the sight of the poor man heaving on the ground, before breaking out into simultaneous laughs. They slowly walked up the road, taking in the sights and avoiding some of the more inebriated patrons. They paused at the base of an enormous tower that seemed to dominate everything else on the strip.

"Well, where to now?" Veronica asked quietly, an undercurrent of unbridled excitement lacing her tone. This was more than she could have ever dreamed of with the Brotherhood; they would have never allowed her to come here. Then again, what they didn't know couldn't hurt them…

"I'm not sure, everywhere looks so…!" Ruby couldn't even finish the thought; compared to Veronica's contained energy she was a bubbling mess. Her eyes darted about ceaselessly and she seemed unable to stay on one foot or the other.

"Okay." Veronica cut in, trying to be the voice of reason. "Maybe we should start at one of the smaller casinos, to get a better feel of the area and how this whole place works. I've heard that there are three 'big' casinos, we should probably avoid those for now and-"

"No way, big three! Big three!" Ruby interrupted, grabbing the startled scribe's arm and rushing forward, only for the pair to come face to face with a very unwelcome sight wheeling toward them.

"Well howdy there Miss! Now fancy running into you, here of all places?" Victor greeted, his synthesised southern drawl as grating as ever.

"Victor, wonderful; and here I thought Vegas was supposed to be a place to get _away_ from your troubles." Ruby grumbled irritably, wondering over the fastest way to end this conversation that wouldn't have her arrested on the spot.

"Now now Miss, no need for the hostilities over little 'ol me." He titled, the cheesy caricature turning to look at Veronica. "And I see you even got yourself a little companion huh?"

"What do you want now Victor?" Ruby cut in; Veronica was looking at the corny robot warily and she didn't want a fight to break out. There were both NCR MP's and other Securitrons lurking about; having a conversation with one of Vegas' faithful guards was already drawing enough attention.

"Curt as always ain't ya Miss? Well then I'll get right down to it. I'm here to extend an invitation o' sorts, from the head honcho Mr House himself." One of his spindly, hose-like arms gestured to the enormous towers. "He's a waiting for you in the Lucky 38." He began to wheel off toward the tower, calling back, leaving two frozen girls in his wake. "I wouldn't try ta' keep him waiting long if I were ya'll." And then he was gone, or at least his face suddenly shifted into that of the policeman that seemed the norm here on the strip.

The two were silent for a moment as Vegas continued to bustle on around them before Veronica regained her wits. "The guy you were annoying this whole time was Mr House?!" She nearly screamed, only managing to reign herself in so as to not cause a scene.

"I didn't know!" Ruby argued defensively; even she had heard of Mr House, the elusive and mysterious man that ruled over Vegas without ever actually being seen. He was apparently a man nobody would like to piss of; including the NCR, who were only allowed a very meagre embassy somewhere on the strip.

"Well?" Veronica continued, glancing toward the sweeping tower that looked more akin to a monument than a casino. "Should we go?"

Ruby started, quickly shaking her head. "Hell no, I'm not walking into some trap in a building that could lock down more securely than a bank vault. This is a guy who apparently commands an army of very powerful machines." At least from what she had seen poking around inside of PD. "I say we just get our money and get out; at least his influence is limited to Vegas."

After a moment of consideration Veronica hesitantly nodded; that seemed like a good plan. The man's invitation seemed rather open so as long as they were relatively quick with their business they could slip back out of Vegas and never have to look back. "Alright then, so where-"

"Big three!" Ruby announced boldly as she once again took up Veronica's arm and marched off. The scribe simply sighed and followed along with a roll of her eyes; she envied Ruby's ability to put problems out of her mind almost immediately.

The first one they came upon was the garishly-announced Gomorrah; it looked to be a bright beacon of sin in all forms. Scantily clad ladies danced enticingly outside as various signs and statues alluded to the visceral pleasures to be found within. Everything was decked out in a red, flaming decal to emphasise just how hot your soul would be burning just from stepping inside. Veronica led the madly blushing Ruby in a little _too_ excitedly.

The redhead walked out not thirty seconds later, her face several shades darker than before as steam practically vented from her ears. "Nope, nope, nope, so much nope." She muttered feverishly, striding away from the casino and the women outside who pouted at her with faux sadness, beckoning for her to return. Behind her Veronica laughed uproariously, wiping her eyes of the mirthful tears that had gathered there.

When they had reached what Ruby decided was an acceptable distance from the den of sin she stopped in the street, furiously fighting down her blush while Veronica regained some measure of composure. "How did you think that was a good place to start?" She muttered testily, only to receive a renewed bout of chuckles from the highly amused scribe.

"I don't know, I thought it looked kind of fun." She glanced back at the flaming casino and winked at one of the skimpy women outside, receiving a blown kiss in return. Ruby huffed and strode on, only to have Veronica drape herself over her shoulders teasingly. "You know, I never really noticed this before, but you're a bit of a prude, huh?"

Ruby bristled at that. "I'm not a prude." She growled. She really wasn't; her mother was a prude, old lady Danvers from the Vault was a prude, she certainly was not. Just because she had some standards…

Suddenly a sneaky hand grabbed the zip of her vault suit, whipping it down until it was level with her chest, open enough to see a lot of skin. Ruby immediately shrieked and zipped it right back up, looking around at a laughing Veronica accusingly. "I… told you… so!" She managed through laboured wheezes. Ruby turned a bright shade of red, but not from embarrassment this time, and stormed off towards the next casino.

Veronica rushed after her, still stifling her mirth with a strained smile. "Oh come on Ruby, it was just a joke!"

By the time they reached the door of the rather grand building, Ruby had a chance to cool off and Veronica had stopped laughing. Instead they were both admiring the elegant décor and rather beautiful fountain just outside the entrance. Where Gomorrah gave off an air of pleasure and indulgence, the 'Ultra-Luxe' seemed the epitome of class and sophistication.

The opinion wasn't dissuaded as they stepped in, suddenly awash in shades of turquoise and blue. All around them people were dressed in fine clothes, suits and dresses Ruby had only ever seen from the upper echelons of the Hub's merchant and the richer folk from Shady Sands. In contrast the two of them, in her Vault suit and Veronica's painfully casual get-up, stood out like a ghoul in a line-up. They weren't the only one to notice as a man in a fine black suit and an ornate porcelain mask walked up to the pair, nose pointed in the air as he did his best to look down on the two.

"Ahem, welcome to the Ultra-luxe, I would ask that you remove all weapons from your person before entering…" He began with the faintest hint of a sneer pulling at his lips "…however I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Ruby bristled again, already irritated from Veronica's antics; she had actually quite liked the look of this place before this jerk had ruined it.

"Why?" She asked indignantly; she couldn't quite pull off her mother's famously derisive face, but she did her best.

"I'm afraid you two don't quite match the… _aesthetic_ that the Ultra-Luxe strives to provide for its fine clientele." He sniffed. "Now, are you two ruffians going to leave, or will I have to call security?"

It was a fuming Ruby that Veronica damn near had to drag out of the Ultra-Luxe's main doors, frightening a couple of well-to-do people on their way out with the dark looks she was shooting everywhere. "Ruffians… aesthetic; I'll show them a bloody aesthetic." She grumbled as the climbed back down the steps; she was sorely tempted to do something to the fountain out front, like turn it off, or re-route it through their floor. She'd see how well they liked their aesthetic when it was changed to 'under the sea'.

However it seemed somebody else had a similar idea, although for different reasons, as they saw a trio of female NCR soldiers begin stripping off their uniforms to jump in the fountain. Immediately a nearby Securitron trundled over to tell them to get out but the three girls seemed more amused by its efforts than anything else, throwing their clothes at it as they splashed about in the water. Ruby just trudged by, now in an officially foul mood, however Veronica did pause to take in the sight.

"I think I quite like Vegas." She remarked as they moved toward the last of the 'big three', the rather innocuous looking but still quite grand 'Tops'.

"Well that makes one of us." The redhead grouched as she straightened up, sighing out the worst of her irritation as she prepared herself to walk through the doors. She could only imagine what new irritation lay beyond, but if it followed suit from the last two it was sure to piss her off.

To her surprise though the inside of the Tops seemed comparatively accommodating, lit in warm colours as friendly looking men in sharp suits floated around the casino floor. They were halted at the front desk by a handsome man in a fine pin-striped suit who just seemed perpetually pleased by something.

"Hey there dolls, welcome the Tops, I'm your main man Swank and you're pleasure…" He shot them both a wink "…is my priority." He straightened his tie and ran a hand through his hair. "Now, as a formality I'm going to have to ask you to leave any weapons you got right here; we at the Tops know that the wastes are a harsh place but the Chairmen are here to make sure you forget all about that. Well…" He chuckled lightly "…as long as you still have money of course."

Ruby smiled along with him, definitely liking this place a lot more than the last two; right now she was just wondering what the catch was. However Swanks proved to be very friendly even as she handed over her laser pistol and Veronica, her power fist.

"The nail gun too please." Swank requested as Ruby opened up her satchel, causing her to look at him oddly. "Yeah, sounds pretty strange but you have no idea what these cats try to smuggle in. One guy thought it'd be real clever to rig a blow torch into a flamethrower…" He shrugged "…some gripe with the boss man. Anyway, let's just say the Securitrons didn't even get the chance to do their justice; you dig?" Ruby just handed the tool over, it made no difference to her; she wasn't planning on causing a scene or anything.

"Are we good now?" Veronica asked curiously, flexing her hand to get used to the sensation of not wearing her power fist and glancing over at the casino floor.

"Yeah, sure thing babe." Swank assured as he ran a hand through his hair. "We're all cool. Welcome to the Tops casino and resort." He grinned suavely and gestured to the rest of the large room. "The _swankiest_ joint on the strip, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise." And like that they were ushered off as Swank turned to deal with the next patron, a little lost in all the sudden possibilities. Before anything though they had to cash in their money for chips, the part Ruby was most anxious about.

However after nervously handing over her money and gaining a healthy stack of the casino currency they both made their way over to the gambling floor, specifically making a beeline toward the blackjack tables. However Ruby, who was looking down at the chips in her hands to make sure she didn't drop any, didn't notice the man walking into her path. She cursed, diving to the floor to scrabble for the money so none rolled away.

"Oh, my bad doll-face…"

She froze as she reached for a stray chip, the voice ringing clearly in her head as she looked up in surprise.

"…sorry about-" He froze as well, easy grin twisting into shock as a cigarette fell from his lips.

"You!" They both stammered simultaneously as Ruby looked right up into the face of the man who shot her point blank in the head.


	11. Vague aspirations

**I don't own Fallout in the same way I don't own all of the chocolate; I _really_ want to but... yeah right, right?**

* * *

 _"The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do."_ – B. F. Skinner

* * *

Ruby couldn't believe she was face to face with the man who had shot her and left her for dead. Doc Mitchell's warning about chasing after him echoed in her mind; it seemed some cruel irony had drawn her back to him even without her trying. Luckily for her, Benny seemed just as frozen as he looked down at a ghost from the past who should have been just that; a ghost. Hell, he still had the same magazine loaded into his pistol!

"That's impossible." He muttered, backing away as Ruby hesitantly got to her feet. "You're dead."

And then Ruby did something that had everybody shocked; she laughed. She stood up, looked the man who nearly killed her right in the face, and laughed. "Well, I got better I guess." She grinned, running a hand through her hair as she glanced about. By now the surrounding Chairmen had realised their boss was in some kind of situation and had approached, surrounding them.

The unexpected reaction at least knocked Benny out of his shock. He gathered his wits and straightened his suit, hardening his expression. "So what's this then? You finally manage to track me down? Come to get revenge right here in my own casino?" He tilted his head slightly and the surrounding men all put hands to their guns. "You'll have a hard time of it doll, this is my turf."

"Revenge?" Ruby questioned. "Why would I go after the man who nearly killed me already?" Damn, that was some serious déjà vu; she'd already had this conversation right?

Beside her, Veronica started, momentarily forgetting that they were surrounded by armed opponents. "He what?!" Her gaze was immediately locked on Benny; she knew the story from what Ruby had told her and now she finally had a face to match the man. What she would do if she had just five minutes alone with… _'Wait, she doesn't want revenge?'_

"Wait, you don't want revenge?" Benny retorted, unknowingly matching Veronica's thoughts as they both stared at the girl incredulously. "Then why the heck are you here?" For a moment his 'cool guy' persona slipped in his confusion.

"To gamble…" Ruby confessed, as though it were obvious.

"A likely story." Benny scoffed, hand itching towards his own gun; in response Veronica tightened her fist. She was certain that even with the men surrounding them she could reach Benny and use him as a human shield before they could draw their guns. "What's to stop me from tying up another loose end right here and now and saving myself the anxiety, huh?"

Ruby shrugged, looking way too comfortable to be in the middle of a potential firefight; they didn't know that it was all bluster and internally she was sweating bullets. "Because you wouldn't want to gun down an innocent patron right in the middle of your casino floor right?"

That, finally, had Benny take stock of the situation and realise right where he was. The various gamblers were staring their way, the entire casino having gone deathly quiet. Benny's hand immediately retreated from his gun as the façade slipped right back into place. A brilliant smile lit his features as he glanced around, arms raised passively.

"Nothing to see here you crazy cats, just a lil' misunderstanding is all. Someone…" He jerked a thumb at Ruby casually "…was trying to negotiate their drink prices. And you all know the Chairmen just don't roll like that, am I right?" He smiled easily and just like that a wave of relief seemed to sweep across the casino floor as people returned to their gambling and drinking.

Once things were settled Benny turned back to the redhead, his face a little more composed now. "Well then Red, let's suppose you really aren't here to see me toes-up in a shallow grave; best be on your best behaviour, or my men here won't be so restrained with their weapons." And with those words of warning he turned on a heel and marched to the other end of the floor to a table that allowed him an overview of the entire casino.

Moments later and the surrounding Chairmen followed suit, allowing both girls to breathe a silent sigh of relief. "Well… that was tense." The engineer chirped, only to have Veronica's eye twitch.

"Yeah, tense; _that's_ the word." She reigned in her hurricane of confused feelings as she glanced over at where Benny was now watching them like a hawk. "So that's really the guy who tried to kill you?"

Ruby only glanced over for a moment. "Yeah, that's him; never thought I'd be seeing him again to be honest."

Veronica chuckled, finally finding some humour in the messed up situation they'd found themselves in. "Well, I can't exactly say what I'd do in your situation; but squaring up to the guy and then leaving without so much as a final showdown… or hell, even raising my voice? I don't think I could do that." She grinned, only to falter as she saw Ruby glance at her curiously.

"Leave? Who said anything about leaving?" She jiggled the chips in her hand that she had thankfully managed to recover. "We already cashed in."

Veronica gaped at the girl. "You're still going to gamble after all of that? Surrounded by people that at any moment could decide that they're better off with you… actually." She paused, shaking her head and placing a hand to her temple. "I think I've decided to just stop trying to understand you. It'll be better for my sanity in the long run."

Ruby grinned. "You know, I once had a friend who said the exact same thing. Now come on, there's a free table over there." She led the way through the significantly emptier tables over to a vacant blackjack game.

"Yeah, because people just saw you nearly get perforated by the owners of the place and left as soon as they could…" Veronica grumbled, before being pulled down into a chair by the mercurial redhead. Ah well, if she couldn't help Ruby by removing Benny's head from his shoulders, she could at least help her cripple him financially.

* * *

Benny watched Ruby's every minute move with intense scrutiny after that. He couldn't believe that this girl had just happened upon him, especially after he had put one right between her eyes. She must have one hell of a thick skull, or brains to spare, because his shot was right on the money. No, she had to be here for something; revenge, working for House, the chip… something. However as he saw her increasingly rack up her winnings at the table he had a sinking feeling that she was purely here to run his precious casino into the ground.

He couldn't find plausible grounds to remove the girl though, she was just… gambling. Occasionally she would talk to the dealer, who seemed to be amused at whatever she talked about, but other than that he wouldn't have been able to tell her from a normal casino-goer. It was her companion, surprisingly enough, that would look over in his direction and shoot him dirty looks. She looked a mean one despite her fashionista hairdo and innocuous get-up.

All the same he stopped the pit boss from walking over when they reached the casino's usual limit of twelve thousand caps. He couldn't afford to make another scene with the girl, enough patrons had walked out already. Anyway, he didn't think her lucky streak could run for much longer; the house always won out in the end, right? However when she broke through eighteen thousand caps he decided enough was enough; he could swallow the bitter pill of a few missing patrons if it meant the casino still had money for the next day.

It was at the entrance to the casino, where the girls were receiving their weapons back, that he confronted them again. He couldn't help but notice they looked decidedly more smug than when they entered. They didn't look particularly pleased to see him walking up, but then a small part of him couldn't really blame them. A louder part was asking what right _they_ had to be upset when they had just cleaned him out of nearly twenty thousand caps.

"Hey Red, that was a mean bout of gambling back there; you must have a streak of luck in you the length of the strip." He paused, thinking back on what he said before smiling easily. "But we already knew that, huh?"

Veronica glared at him, wishing he'd take another step forward so she'd have an excuse to break his nose. "Maybe it's just karma." She growled out.

Benny put his hands up placating, eyes glancing about to make sure he had enough muscle around him to feel secure. "Hey hey baby, let's keep everything on the smooth, it's all ring-a-ding here in the Tops." He looked over at Ruby, who seemed to be regarding him with a cool curiosity more than anything else, and sobered.

"So Red, things are really on the fly between us?" The girl just shrugged. "So you really don't care?" Now he was just asking to sate his curiosity; who was seriously like this? He'd heard that people coming out of Vaults weren't usually all there in the head, but he didn't imagine they'd be like _this_.

Ruby looked up thoughtfully. "Well, I'm alive… so I guess not." She scratched her nose. "Although it is kind of annoying I never got to get paid for the delivery; it was a long walk too." She seemed to consider something before finally shrugging, face placid. "Hey, if anything I bet the guy who never got his delivery is more annoyed than anyone."

At that Benny visibly paled, withdrawing something from his jacket and fiddling with it nervously. Ruby caught a flash of something silver and round and was reminded of when she had first received the infamous package; she had seen something similar being placed in by the box she'd carried by the Mojave express supervisor back in San Francisco. Before Benny knew what happened the small disk was out of his hands as Ruby carefully held it up to her eye.

"Is this what all the fuss was about?" She queried, squinting to better get a look at the almost microscopic engravings running around the coin-like object.

Benny only froze for a moment when he realised the chip was out of his hands before his hand instantly sought out his gun. "What do you-" His question was brought to an abrupt stop when the front of his suit was roughly grabbed and a power fist was poised level with his head. Veronica had acted the moment she had seen him going for the uniquely decorated pistol on his waist. Although there _was_ the small hitch that, almost immediately, several other weapons from the surrounding Chairmen were aimed at her.

"Huh, this looks advanced." Ruby mused, barely even noticing the small panic she had caused by taking the oversized metal chip. "Laser-engraved markings…" She twisted it in her hands "…some kind of data storage?" She whistled appreciatively. "This is leagues ahead of the latest pre-war holodisk technology; cool." Satisfied with her inspection she grinned and flicked the coin back to Benny, who was forced to drop his gun to catch it.

Ruby motioned to Veronica and, after a moment's hesitation, the scribe released the man, allowing him to stumble back. The bodyguards around them made a move to close in on them but Benny immediately raised his hands to stop them.

"Wait, wait, just let them go. If the girl's got no beef with me, then I'm not gonna hold any grudge." He coughed into his hand and straightened out his suit where Veronica had rumpled it. "I ain't some fink like that." The Chairmen immediately holstered their weapons and Ruby had to admit, they were obedient if nothing else. Ruby and Benny shared one last look before the girl turned and walked out of the Tops, likely for the first and last time.

It would only be hours later, when Benny was sat in his office high up in the Casino's presidential suite, twisting the platinum chip between his hands, that he realised his mistake. There he had a girl who knew what this thing was with only a single glance, and he had just let her walk away. Who knew what secrets she could have unlocked from the blasted thing? Lord knew the Followers' woman he had hired wasn't getting very far with it.

However when he had his men comb through Freeside, sure that they would be making tracks out of Vegas as soon as possible, they found nothing. He never would have guessed that they were still on the strip, in the casino right across the road from him.

* * *

Ruby damn near danced out onto the strip as she stared down at a fraction of the money they had won in the Tops. When converted into NCR currency and added to what they already had it stacked up to just over fifty-four thousand dollars. The young engineer had never seen so much money in her entire life, and now she was holding it! Fixing a vertibird? With the equivalent of around twenty-two thousand caps, she was probably halfway to buying one!

"This is incredible!" She exclaimed brightly, putting the money away for now; suddenly having so much had the adverse effect of making her wary of thieves. "Now we have more than enough to buy the parts we need to fix up the 'Bird." She turned to Veronica with a beaming grin. "Think of all the places we can see! Think of how much easier it will be to track down Elijah with that kind of mobility!"

Veronica had to smile at that; even in her excitement Ruby was still thinking about her promise. "So, where to now then my would-be Captain?"

The redhead stopped her self-congratulations to look up thoughtfully, a sly smile twisting her lips. "Captain Ruby, I quite like the sound of that."

Veronica just chuckled and swatted the girl lightly on the arm. "Don't get too used to it; I half expect you to crash the damn thing within a week. Marvellous engineer you may be; but pilot?" She looked the girl over and smirked. "I don't think so."

Ruby huffed, blowing a stray bang away from her face. "Well what do you know about piloting a vertibird?"

She wasn't expecting the victorious grin. "More than you I bet, considering that it's one of the simulations Scribe Taggart has for the VR pod." Of course on three out of five attempts she had also managed to _crash_ the simulated vertibird, but Ruby didn't need to know that.

The redhead turned it around on her though. "Great, then you can fly; I've always wanted a private chauffer." After laughing at Veronica's indignant expression she looked up in thought. "Although as for where to next…" The sky was beginning to darken, they'd have to find lodgings for the night.

"Well then, if I may make a suggestion?" Veronica chimed in coyly, glancing back along the strip with an almost predatory grin. Ruby suddenly had a very bad feeling about her idea.

"This is so not going to work." The poor engineer groaned.

"Shh, play along, it'll be fine." Veronica placated.

"They're going to kick us out again." The redhead argued.

"No they won't, it'll be _fine_." The scribe asserted.

"You're going to embarrass us!" Ruby stressed.

"Just relax; besides, I've always wanted to do this." The taller girl shot back, silencing any further protest with a finger to her lips as she pushed through the front doors to the Ultra-Luxe, a pessimistic Ruby trailing behind.

"Welcome to the Ultra- oh, it's you two again." The greeter noted with a pronounced sneer, the very same one that had accosted them the first time. "Haven't I already told you that you are not welcome within this establishment?"

Veronica merely adopted a cocky smirk, coughing into her hand before rubbing her knuckles on her shirt. "Oh, I remember; I also remember the attitude with which you used to address two fine, _paying_ customers." On 'paying', she casually pulled out a decidedly large roll of NCR bills that she had borrowed from Ruby and began leafing through it lazily.

The change that overcame the concierge was insultingly shallow as his posture straightened and a forced smile spread his cheeks. _'I bet those aren't the only cheeks he'd spread for this amount of money'_ Veronica thought with a mischievous grin.

"Ah, but of course." Even the man's tone had shifted, suddenly becoming the epitome of politeness as he gave a curt nod to the two women. "I should have known immediately that you two were… _above_ the common rabble that come through here. We simply have to be very… _selective_ with our clientele; you understand of course?"

Veronica's nose shot up in the air like it was trying to sniff the plaster on the ceiling, adopted the perfect haughty air. "Oh but of course, but now that you know better you'll guide us to where we can get some rooms for the night?" She moved up to stand beside the man and seamlessly slipped him a few bills from the roll. Ruby's incensed protests were silenced when she lightly kicked the girl in the shin.

"Of course madam." He nodded to Ruby. "Miss." Then back to Veronica. "Right this way." As he was leading them further into the Casino Veronica leaned back and winked at the redhead, only to receive a roll of the eyes in response. All the same Ruby couldn't help a small smile; this was actually kind of fun.

Soon the pair were led to a beautifully furnished room with a huge double bed at the centre, ornate wooden panelling that accentuated the flowery wallpaper and mirrors everywhere they looked. It looked to them, a scruffy Vault-rat turned courier and a techy Brotherhood scribe, to be the absolute peak of luxury. "This will be acceptable I presume?" The greeter asked.

"And uh, the other one?" Veronica queried, momentarily thrown by the beauty of the room. "There _are_ two of us you know." She amended.

"I'm afraid the rest of our high-roller suites are quite full." They could see an eyebrow rise through the eyehole of the porcelain mask. "I assumed that any _lower_ rooms would be unsuited to such… refined patrons as yourselves."

Veronica quickly regained her snooty façade. "Of course." She affirmed, glancing back at Ruby who simply shrugged unhelpfully.

"Wonderful." The man drawled, walking out of the room and turning back to them. "Some more _appropriate_ attire will be provided for you shortly; until then please feel free to make use of our extensive baths. The bar and casino are open all hours and our restaurant, The Gourmand, serves the finest food you will find anywhere in the world." He gave a curt nod and shuffled out of the room, hand momentarily straying to the pocket Veronica slipped the money into. " _Do_ enjoy your stay at the Ultra-Luxe."

It was only when the door closed that Ruby released the breath she had been holding, flopping back onto the bed. "Man, I can't believe that actually worked!" She rolled around for a moment on the soft sheets. "Oh wow, this is comfy."

Veronica grinned at the door, making faces at it as though it were the snooty man himself. "That's the power of money for you."

"Whatever it is, I could get used to it."

Veronica looked back at the girl who was currently trying to pull as much of the sheets towards her as possible, completely ruining how it had been laid out. "Something tells me the high roller life wouldn't suit you." She deadpanned. "Still, I think I might miss this place when we go tomorrow."

Ruby sat up at that, a frown marring her face. "Yeah about that, I was thinking about it now that we actually have the money. I only know of one place where we can go to get any kind of parts we need for the 'Bird."

Veronica quirked an eyebrow, confused at the girl's dour expression. "I thought we were just going to order them in through the Crimson Caravan or something?"

The redhead scoffed. "No way, even with all of _that_ …" She nodded at the wad still in Veronica's hands "…we still don't have enough money for the kind of extortionate rates _they'd_ charge us." Her fingers drummed on the bedside table as she looked down indecisively. "No, I think… I think we might have to go to my hometown."

"That doesn't sound too bad."

Ruby grimaced. "Yeah well, if you hadn't picked it up, I don't exactly fit in well back home." She scraped a hand through her hair with a sigh. "Hell, I've only been back there about four times since we all left the Vault."

Veronica blinked; that was a long time to be away from home. She surprised the redhead by suddenly jumping on the bed, nearly launching the other girl off. However she cut off the small tirade that would have followed with a bright smile. "Being unable to fit in at home, just another thing we have in common." Ruby had to pause to consider that. "Anyway, I'm sure it won't take long, just in and out with the parts right?"

"I guess." The redhead agreed hesitantly, only for Veronica to pat her on the back a little _too_ forcefully.

"Problem solved then; now come on, I want to go try these baths."

Ruby's spirits were lifted a bit by that, at least until Veronica jumped off the bed and began disrobing on the move right in front of her. "Veronica!" She whined, only to have the scribe laugh at her plight.

"Prude."

She bristled quickly enough at that though. "I am not a prude!"

* * *

"Okay, _now_ I think I love this place." Veronica declared as she swept out of the side room of their suite. She was now clad in a beautiful strapless dress that hugged her form until the mid-thigh, where it swept out in carefully crimped pleats. The simple black and white colour scheme complimented her dark hair; or at least she wouldn't stop saying it did as she danced about the room with an invisible partner, occasionally twirling just to watch her skirts fly out.

It turned out this is what the concierge had meant by 'more appropriate attire'. The two had found the dresses laid out neatly on their bed when they returned from a relaxing trip to the baths. Veronica was absolutely delighted and Ruby had been treated to the gushing scribe telling her all about her love of dresses; she couldn't get the thing on fast enough.

Ruby on the other hand…

"I'm so not wearing this." She called sullenly from the bathroom.

"Oh come on, I bet you look great." Veronica consoled absently, still floating about the room in a marvellous daze.

"It doesn't matter, I'm not wearing it; it's too… airy." The redhead asserted more resolutely as she walked awkwardly out of the en-suite. Veronica stopped spinning about immediately, unable to tear her gaze away from the younger girl.

Ruby was now wearing a black velvet dress that's two wide straps plunged into a rather daring neckline. At her hips it swept off to one side, revealing a lot of the girl's leg below the deep red trim that almost perfectly matched her hair. It also matched the nearly steaming blush that enveloped the poor girl's cheeks as she fruitlessly tried to cover her leg with a dress that definitely did _not_ have the fabric to do so.

Veronica wolf whistled appreciatively. "I have no idea what you're complaining about, with the hair cut from the Kings and now this, you look like one of those pre-war starlets."

Ruby's blush only deepened, if that was still possible. "R-Really?" She shook her head to get rid of it though as a slight breeze fluttered the hems of the elegant dress. "That's not the point!"

"Well…" Veronica clicked her teeth as she looked the girl over again "…we could always trade if you like?"

Ruby visibly gulped at that, looking at the strapless dress the scribe was wearing. She was almost certain she didn't have the… assets, to support such a thing; something Veronica seemed to have no shortage of. Actually, once she was taken out of the strange and frumpy clothing she favoured as a Brotherhood scavenger, she turned out to have quite the womanly figure.

"Ahh… I think I'll pass." She stammered, tearing her eyes away from the other girl's chest.

If Veronica noticed she didn't comment, instead taking her answer for an affirmative as she grabbed the girl's arm. "Great; to the restaurant then!"

Despite Ruby's initial embarrassment over her state of dress, not to mention all the attention they seemed to be getting from the other patrons, the night actually improved from there. As the greeter had promised, the food in the restaurant was absolutely amazing, better than anything Ruby had ever tasted before. She was able to forget all about the dress and the people staring at her as she allowed the symphony of flavours to explode in her mouth.

It helped that the waiters weren't exactly stingy with the wine; Ruby had never had wine before, she decided then that she quite liked it. The two had a great time, first enjoying the food together, then quietly making fun of the other patrons and their very stiff postures. Soon that enjoyment became… not so quiet, and the two were 'kindly' asked to move to the bar. They did so, but not before Ruby blew an especially loud raspberry at the waiter.

The drinks kept flowing after that, and only after Ruby found she was only just able to walk across the now weirdly lurching floor, did the girls decide to retire to their room, much to the relief of the other customers. They were giggling all the way through the corridors, gaining strange looks from passers-by, but they didn't care. Underground bunkers and Vaults weren't exactly the environments to raise heavy-drinkers.

Both flopped gratefully onto the plush bed, thankful that, for a moment, the world stopped spinning. Ruby shuffled about awkwardly, doing her best impression of a worm as she turned to face Veronica, still grinning like a loon as she peered out through a messy veil of scarlet hair.

"I was wrong." She slurred. "This was really fun."

Veronica giggled, playfully reaching across and flicking up the hem of the redhead's dress. "Even the dress?" Her own grasp of language had taken a hit as well and she had to focus a lot more on how her lips should move than she normally would.

"Even the dress." Ruby affirmed with a small hiccup, eyelids beginning to drift; now that she was laying down she suddenly felt awfully tired. Vaguely, in the back of her mind she remembered something about not sleeping in nice clothing, but couldn't bring herself to care.

"Good." Veronica agreed with an odd jerk of her head that may or may not have supposed to have been a nod. "Everyone should love the dress."

Ruby giggled, shifting slightly on the smooth sheets. "I'm glad I met you 'Ronica." She mumbled, blinking heavily. "Everything's more fun with you."

"I know." The scribe giggled lazily, looking up to catch the girl in the eye only to pause. Right then, through the haze of the drink clouding her mind, she did something stupid. She reached over and gently brushed away the hair falling across the redhead's face. This close, she had never noticed that Ruby's eyes were the most startling shade of blue. Slowly, that Ruby barely noticed she was moving, she leaned in and ever so softly pressed her lips against Ruby's.

The reaction was instantaneous; the redhead stiffened, sobering in record time as her eyes opened improbably wide. For a moment she just stared at Veronica, who was still enjoying the gentle kiss with her eyes closed, and then the delay of the alcohol faded and she realised what was happening. She jerked back, overbalancing for a moment before tumbling ungracefully off the bed, startling the scribe out of her daze as well.

Before Veronica knew what had happened the redhead had scrambled to her feet and practically sprinted for the en-suite, slamming the door behind her. The loud noise finally shattered the fuzzy bubble that had enveloped Veronica's mind as she realised what she had just done. Jerking upright only to wobble slightly, her balance was still very off-centre. Still, she managed to shakily traverse the room and knock meekly on the bathroom door.

"Ruby?" She called quietly, only to receive no response. She knocked a few more times, but was still only met with silence. "I-I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking…"

After a few more deathly quiet seconds the door slowly creaked open and Ruby shuffled out, her face strangely unreadable. She moved right past Veronica and got into the bed, immediately turning away from the scribe. "We should get some sleep, it's a long trip to my home." She muttered in a painfully neutral tone.

Deciding that anything else she said at this point would only serve to further place her foot in her mouth, Veronica sighed and slipped under the sheets as well. She made sure to stay as physically far from the girl as she was able; something told her Ruby didn't want to be close to her at the moment. Still, she had a small hope that all of this would blow over by the morning.

Ruby just stared at the wall, her brow knitted together; she didn't feel like she'd be getting all that much sleep tonight. However excessive alcohol has a way of making all but the most stubborn succumb to sleep eventually.


	12. Long road home

**I don't own Fallout yet, so I'll have to look into how Bethesda acquired it from Black Isle...**

* * *

 _"_ _If we continue to develop our technology without wisdom or prudence, our servant may prove to be our executioner._ _"_ – Omar N. Bradley

* * *

Veronica supposed she was a little too hopeful to think that Ruby would simply forget about what happened the previous night. When she woke up she found the space in the bed next to her conspicuously empty. She nearly had a small panic attack right then, thinking Ruby had simply up and left on her. However PD was still sitting in the corner where he had been deactivated the previous night.

She looked about but the redhead was nowhere to be found in the room. Instead Veronica got dressed, or re-dressed as the case was, switching out of the dress that now smelt of alcohol. It was as she was packing her things, casually slipping the dress into her bag to keep, that Ruby came back into the room. It wrenched at the scribe's heart to see that as soon as the girl looked at her, her features set into a neutral mask.

"I just paid for the room." She muttered, turning away to move toward PD and reactivate him.

Veronica was at a loss for what to say, Ruby had never talked to her like that, with so little emotion. "Ruby, about last night I-"

"We should probably get a move on." The girl interrupted swiftly, not even glancing up from the robot. "The man at the front desk told me we'd have to pay for another night if we stayed past ten." She slung her satchel on and briskly made for the door.

"Ruby, I'm sorry that-" However before she could even finish the girl had walked out the door and slammed it behind her, leaving Veronica to slump in place. After a moment of uselessly grinding her fists into her temple in frustration she followed on after her. On her way out she couldn't help but notice Ruby's dress from the previous night, balled up and callously discarded on the floor.

She caught up to the engineer in the lobby, where she was already headed for the main entrance. A few people stopped curiously to watch the Securitron trundle by, but the staff seemed to treat it as a regular occurrence. Deciding to just go for broke here so that she wouldn't have to weather out this agonizing cold-shoulder treatment, she grabbed Ruby by the wrist and spun her around. This obviously caught the redhead off guard, as her eyes widened in shock.

"Veronica what are you-"

This time it was her turn to interrupt. "Listen Ruby, I know what I did last night was stupid but please don't treat me this way; please don't act like nothing happened at all. We need to at least talk about this."

Almost immediately Veronica wished she had said nothing, wished that she hadn't even brought it up. Maybe Ruby would have gotten over it and things would have gone back to normal. Hell, anything would have been better than that horrible fake smile Ruby plastered onto her face. She looked bright and cheerful as normal, but her eyes were where that smile ended; there was no warmth there, only confusion and betrayal.

"It's fine right? Just a drunken mistake we can forget about." Every word was like a small dagger being driven into Veronica's chest. The scribe let go of Ruby's wrist, her arm falling limp at her side as the girl immediately turned to leave the casino. This time Veronica simply trailed after her wordlessly, wondering if she'd ever see anything but that façade of a smile again.

* * *

The two continued in a silence that could be called the epitome of awkwardness if either would have cared to break it. Veronica was worried just how much further she could mess up what broken relationship she still had with Ruby. The redhead on the other hand, her thoughts were much less decipherable. Their first port of call was the Crimson Caravan outpost just to the east of Vegas; it turned out they had no caravans heading west at the moment; however from there they were directed to the Gun Runners.

It turned out they had a small convoy that were moving out to the Boneyard – pre-war Los Angeles – later that day, and they agreed to allow Ruby and Veronica to come with as long as the two provided for themselves. The duo agreed to the terms quickly, or at least Ruby did; Veronica simply nodded mutely at whatever the redhead said, not trusting her own mouth at the moment.

It was a four day journey to the Boneyard, a little less to Ruby's home, and those three days were some of the most miserable of Veronica's life. The feeling was akin to the betrayal she felt after Elijah's disappearance, but stretched out over an agonising length of time. Days passed slowly, with the caravaneers occasionally trying to strike up conversation with one or the other. However Ruby's answers were curt and frosty; Veronica on the other hand might as well have been catatonic for all the conversation they got from her.

It made their fellow travellers rather wary of the pair and soon they just stopped trying. At this point they would have gotten better responses from PD, for whom Ruby had finally managed to program some situational awareness. The machine could now react to various stimuli with pre-programmed images that would appear on his screen.

For example when he had spotted a small nest of Geckos approaching the caravan from behind, its screen switched to an image of a cartoonish exclamation mark. Likewise when it received input it didn't understand, a question mark would appear. It had more than a few of these responses, ranging from an ellipsis when he was remotely receiving instruction, to various rough caricatures of emotions using text and programming language.

Before this whole… incident, the two had gotten a great laugh from seeing what weird faces they could make from the variety of syntax available. Now when Veronica saw them it simply made her chest ache; remembering how they used to act together invariably forced her to compare it to _this_ Ruby.

This invisible divide between the two lasted all the way through their journey with the Gun Runners' caravan. At night, Ruby slept on the other side of the camp from her. At meals, she barely looked up from her plate and ate quickly so that she could return to her tinkering. During the day she walked at the back of the convoy, rarely accepting the offers to let her ride in the carts and wagons pulled by the Brahmin.

Veronica thought – no, she hoped – that things would finally come to a head when they were forced to turn south, splitting off from the merchants to head their own way. However that cold, crippling silence simply continued as the two walked the dusty stretch of highway 62. Even when they stopped for the night, just a few miles out from their destination, they set up their small camp in completely silence.

Nothing but crickets and coyotes broke that quiet until Veronica stood from where she was sat beside their small, sputtering campfire. She made to move toward her bedroll only for Ruby to raise a hand.

"Wait." Ruby called, somewhat hesitantly. She hadn't talked to Veronica in three days and immediately hoped seared through the young scribe. She turned, but Ruby wasn't looking at her, staring down into the fire with an indecipherable look. "I thought about what you said." The words fanned the flame of that tiny hope as Veronica stepped back into the circle of light cast by the flames.

"Yeah?" Veronica's voice seemed a little hoarse all of a sudden; this was all she wanted, a chance to talk.

"Yeah." Ruby nodded, hand reaching into her satchel hesitantly. "And I think you're right."

Veronica's smile grew as she sat herself back down on the log she had been using as a seat, looking across graciously at the redhead. "That's great."

Ruby just nodded, looking up but just missing the other girl's eye. "I think we should fire ARCHIMEDES."

Veronica froze, mouth gaping like a fish on dry land; slowly her shoulders slumped and her face morphed back to the same despondency she had worn for the past few days. "Oh, that."

Ruby didn't even seem to hear her weak mutter, instead looking down at the rangefinder in her hands. "We should know what kind of power we're carrying around. It's perfect; nobody will be able to see it out here, miles from the nearest settlement. There's nothing around that we could accidentally hurt either." She stood, still staring at the innocuous little device as she turned to move further into the desert. "Are you coming?"

Veronica looked up and was half tempted to say no; she thought this had been it, the beginnings of the road to recovery between them. All the same she got up and trailed after the girl. "Sure." Ruby was at least talking to her; that was something.

They picked their way through the desert slowly, shivering slightly as the temperature dropped with the descending sun. Eventually they came across a small ridge Ruby thought would suit their purposes, giving them a vantage point to see just what the satellite could do. After taking a moment to compose herself, she lifted the little device and aimed.

"Right." For a long couple of seconds she didn't do anything, finger hovering uncertainly near the trigger, hands shaking somewhat. Her finger twitched, pressing lightly on the trigger before immediately releasing it again, repeating the process over and over. She was surprised when the gun was gently taken from her hand.

Ruby looked across at Veronica, half startled, half curious; but the scribe was staring ahead resolutely, rangefinder raised in an unwavering grip. She breathed in sharply, and squeezed the trigger. For a moment it looked as though nothing happened, but in the weakening light from the sunset both girls could just about make out what looked to be three thin streaks of red that joined the earth with the sky.

"The targeting reticule." Ruby whispered in awe, they were far off but even so she was sure just one of those lasers would eclipse her entire body's width. Veronica's hand still didn't waver as she held the device firm, even as the three targets slowly wound together, circling one another before merging on a random patch of earth a few hundred metres away from them.

Then, like the hammer of some vengeful god, an enormous lance of light the thickness of a house ripped through the sky. The air vibrated as enormous quantities of it were suddenly superheated by the tremendous energy of the beam. Tremors through the ground nearly shook the two girls from their perch as the unrelenting spear of light continued to thunder into the earth, as though it were trying to drill right through.

It was only made harder to stay standing as the girls were suddenly buffeted by a terrible blast of searing-hot wind. A deafening shriek rent the air as shockwaves spilled out from the epicentre of the blast and both girls were forced to drop to the floor, hands desperately clutched over their ears. It seemed to last forever, as they were relentlessly battered by burning air and the maddening screech of shockwaves.

Then, as if some higher being had simply flipped a switch, it stopped. The beam vanished, the quakes ceased, and the unbearable heat slowly died down until nothing remained but a warm breeze.

Coughing, the two slowly stood up, cradling their bodies where their exposed skin had been seared by burning wind. Ruby nearly collapsed again when she saw the devastation that single squeeze of a trigger had caused though. Where ARCHIMEDES had struck, nothing remained. Where before there had been sand and the occasional cactus, what was left was a deep crater; it looked to be fifty metres wide, and almost as deep.

The sand had been fused in to blackened glass, still glowing red in some places as super-heated silicon. Even now they could hear the occasional crack and hiss as the molten glass rapidly cooled. Smoke rolled lazily into the air from the very edges of the blast-site; huge masses of earth and debris had been displaced by the sheer force of the beam and a few fires sputtered weakly around the darkened earth.

Ruby let out another shaky wheeze, lungs feeling as though somebody had filled them with sand. "I guess that's what happens when you leave a solar-powered superweapon charging for two hundred years." She croaked, chuckling weakly only to break down into a small coughing fit. The laugh was humourless though, and her face reflected the horror she felt in her stomach at the sight before her.

This was a weapon. A very powerful, very dangerous weapon.

She fell forward onto her knees, barely even feeling the tears slipping down her cheeks; whether it was from the dust kicked up by the blast or something else, even she couldn't say. "We can never let anybody use this." She whispered. Who knew what kind of devastation somebody could cause with this thing?

The journey back to their camp was just as quiet as the trip there, only this time neither minded, thinking deeply on what they had seen. High above them the clouds still swirled strangely; a vast ring of open air had been created by the weapon, like some enormous puncture wound in the sky. It seemed even the atmosphere struggled to recover after just a powerful discharge. Eventually both of them settled by the campfire; no longer separated by the orange flames the two sat side by side, each drawing strength from the other without a word.

Veronica's reaction was much less pronounced that Ruby's, but she was no less shocked by what she had seen. It was the purpose of the Brotherhood – the original Brotherhood – to keep the most dangerous technology out of the hands of the world. That wasn't to say she would deliver this power into their hands; even she could see how twisted the original doctrine Roger Maxson laid down had become.

"Maybe we should destroy it." Veronica suggested suddenly, staring down at the rangefinder in her hands with narrowed eyes. It would be fairly easy, a good punch with her power fist would easily cave in the casing and destroy any of the delicate electronics within.

"We can't do that!" Ruby shouted, snatching the gun-like device away from the scribe.

"Why not?" She protested; it would be the quickest way to deal with the threat.

Ruby stared down at the C-finder uncertainly. "As destructive as it is… it's still a unique piece of technology, we can't just get rid of it." No machine was inherently evil; the rangefinder contained very advanced transmission software that could be used for a great deal of good.

"Imagine if the NCR got a hold of it." Veronica asserted, staring the girl dead in the face even if the redhead refused to meet her eye. "They wouldn't hesitate to use it; neither would the Brotherhood."

Ruby trembled where she sat and, with a bit of surprise, Veronica realised the girl was crying, tears dripping from her chin onto the device. "Why would they make this? Why would they need something so terrible; were things really so bad?" Even a Vault wouldn't survive a direct hit from this thing; she could only imagine what would happen if there was more than one.

She froze for a moment when Veronica gently wrapped her arms around her, before gratefully leaning into the contact. She respected the people of the old world so much, for what they had accomplished, and for the world they were about to step into. However with every new weapon she found, every device that could have had some great function perverted into a means of spreading more death, that respect was chipped away. This was not what technology was for.

"We can't understand them." Veronica muttered, saddened herself at seeing just how much this affected Ruby. And she honestly believed that; the people of the past lacked their hindsight, the people of today lacked their xenophobia. The world had learned a valuable lesson since then, but at a terrible price. Ruby continued to sob in the scribe's arms for a while after that, still twisting the rangefinder in her hands until eventually she just let it drop to the ground.

"Veronica I'm sorry." She murmured quietly when the tears had finally dried and she had nothing left to give. "I'm sorry for how I've acted these last couple days."

"Ruby you don't have to-"

"No." The redhead put her hand up, pushing herself away from the other girl to look her in the eyes. Her own were still puffy from crying, the skin of her face slightly red from the burning winds they had both experienced. "I do, because I've been acting like a jerk, all because I was scared." Her eyes narrowed as she looked down at her own lap, hands balling into fists.

"I was so… confused, after what happened; something like that had never happened to me before and I didn't know what to think. I was scared of what I might say or do, because I might have done something to make you leave." Veronica's eyes widened at that. "I didn't want that; I've only known you for a little while but you're one of the best friends I've ever had." The redhead shook her head. "But that didn't make it right to treat you so coldly."

There was silence for a moment before Veronica gave a weak, raspy laugh. "I thought, all this time, that I had made you hate me. I thought I'd driven a wedge between us." She looked up, a little surprised to find a small tear of her own hanging at the edge of her eye. "I'm sorry too, this is all my fault anyway… I-I would never have done that normally, but I wasn't thinking straight." She looked back down and smiled softly. "I care about you Ruby, your friendship is important to me as well."

The redhead managed a small smile in return, briefly moving in to hug the girl before drawing away. Suddenly the air became a little awkward as neither knew what to say after all that. Thankfully Ruby proved that things hadn't changed all that much with a weak but still mischievous smile. "So, you think I'm attractive enough to kiss then?"

Veronica blinked before catching the cheeky smile and grinning in return. "Don't get too full of yourself, I was very drunk."

Both shared a small chuckle at that before breaking down into twin coughing fits; they both knew things would be a bit awkward between them for some time yet, but it was a start.

* * *

Compared to the images Veronica had conjured up in her head, largely due to Ruby's quirky personality, the engineer's hometown turned out to be somewhat lacklustre. The first they saw of it was a broken motorway sign that was split down the middle, leaving just the word 'springs' visible. Above that somebody had bolted the word 'Broken' in rough-cut scrap metal. She glanced across at Ruby only to get a noncommittal shrug.

"Apparently Vault city was already taken."

The town itself was nestled atop the ruins of pre-war Palm Springs, with strangely clean adobe housing strewn about amidst semi-renovated buildings. They weren't the nicest things to look at; apparently having a city entirely filled with mechanical engineers didn't do much for the architecture. As they walked through the streets Ruby pointed out various features, giving a small history lesson of the fairly new settlement.

"That over there in the distance is Mt Jacinto, that's where the Vault is, although nobody really goes there anymore." She explained, pointing to a hazy silhouette in the far distance.

"How come?" Veronica asked. It was a curious thing; she didn't know much about Vaults if she was perfectly honest, but it should have at least been an important part of their heritage. Ruby's face twisted strangely for a moment as she looked up.

"Ah, it's a bit hard to explain; I'll show you later." They kept moving through the sprawling town and as they did so, Veronica noticed a lot of people that didn't quite seem to fit in. Like Ruby they were wearing Vault suits, which none of the other residents seemed to do; not to mention they were immaculately clean had a large eight emblazoned on the back, not a fifty-three like she had imagined.

Ruby noticed and sighed. "They're from Vault City; usually those guys are loathe to work with anyone but because we're descendants of another Vault they 'graciously' made an exception. They provide us with a few civil engineers to help build the town and in return we send up some mechanical engineers to improve their water and power grids." The girl shrugged. "I think we were better off without them; they're a snooty lot, think they're better than everyone."

"I thought Vault City was an NCR territory?" Veronica queried.

Ruby weighed her hands like scales. "Technically yes, but they're more like an independent city really; NCR don't have the resources to properly govern them anyway."

They passed under a road sign and Veronica glanced up curiously, noting that it too had been altered like the one back on the motorway. "Cathode city?" She read out bemusedly.

Ruby chuckled. "Yeah, some wise-guy decided to go around re-naming all of the districts; Mecca became Mecha, Valerie became Variable; funnily enough, Thermal didn't even have to be changed."

Veronica popped a smirk. "Strangely appropriate for a city of engineers."

Ruby chuckled. "Isn't it just." At that she stopped in the middle of the street, turning back to face the scribe with her arms outstretched. "And there it is, Broken Springs in all her dysfunctional glory; not much… but it's a sort of home." She announced grandly, drawing few odd looks from passers-by.

"It's nice." Veronica complimented, earning a lopsided grin from the redhead as she motioned with her head to a building across from them.

"Come on, we're going in there."

Veronica followed the girl into the dimly-lit building, only to stop and marvel at the sight inside. Everywhere she looked, through a thin veil of fumes that seemed to permanently linger in the air, she could see hundreds of machines, all in various states of repair. Robots with missing limbs rested against a comically displaced airplane turbine with broken rotors. A sentry bot without a head was being used to prop up a haphazard stack of tesla coils. Veronica suddenly had a feeling that this was what the inside of Ruby's head must look like.

However the girl surprised her by striding past all of that to an oil-stained counter where she rang a small but obnoxiously noisy bell with what looked like vindictive pleasure. "Oi gramps, get out here; your favourite customer's come for a visit!"

There was a sudden commotion from a side room as what sounded to be a small-scale metal avalanche shook the building. Coughing and spluttering, a man emerged from the resulting dust cloud, wiping away his face with a dirty apron. Then again, man may have been pushing the image a bit too much; he better resembled some kind of bipedal bear. He was positively enormous, with thickly muscled arms matted with dirty hair and a dark beard that seemed to be doing its best to consume his face.

"Dammit Ruby, how many times have I told you to stop ringing that damn bell like that?" He glared down at the girl who was less than half his size and she just grinned petulantly back.

"Then stop leaving it there for me to ring." The two glared barbs at each other for a few more seconds before the behemoth of a man grinned.

"It's good to see you squirt, what schematics did you bring with you this time?" He asked in a gruff, but still friendly voice. Veronica glanced about and sure enough she could see a few bins lying about that seemed absolutely stuffed full of long rolls of paper, each with a tag fluttering off the end to say what they were for. She wondered if all of them were drawn by Ruby.

"Only a few." The redhead admitted reluctantly, grabbing the ones she had made from the various systems in Helios and laying them out on the table. "That's not why I'm here though."

The giant raised a bushy eyebrow curiously. "Oh? Not here for schematics huh? The world must be ending. And why haven't you introduced me to your little friend here?"

Veronica started in place, only for Ruby to glance back and waved dismissively. "Veronica, this is Arnie, Arnie this is Veronica. Veronica's a Brotherhood scribe." Said scribe shot upright at the casual admittance, however Arnie just glanced at her and chuckled.

"Those tin-cans getting their arses kicked by the NCR?" He chuckled, causing Veronica's cheeks to redden; she didn't get a chance to be indignant though as Ruby continued.

"And Arnie's just about the worst engineer in Vault Fifty-Three." She divulged just as casually, causing the man to grunt in irritation. "However what he _is_ good at is recognising parts, both in what they do and what they belong to." She looked between the two, glad to see they were squared from their equally embarrassing introductions. "Right? Now that we're all caught up…" She grinned at Arnie and pulled out a small hand-written list from her satchel "…I've got an interesting challenge for you."

* * *

Arnie seemed surprised by the hefty request Ruby had placed on him, taking the two out the back of his store to what appeared to be an enormous scrapyard. However Veronica quickly noticed that it was far more organised than most, many shelves being used to house the mountains of junk. Notably, many of the same types of components and parts were placed together, probably for ease of access. Arnie led them deftly through the metal maze, scrutinising the list Ruby had written up with a practised eye.

"You know, I should have most'all of the stuff on this list Ruby, an' can call in a few favours for the rest. But you know, even as a favoured customer this'll cost an arm an' a leg."

Ruby shrugged, unconcerned. "Money's no problem." They still had around fifty thousand NCR dollars so she was sure she could match any price Arnie would pose.

The big man seemed to find amusement in this, chortling loudly and slapping the girl on the back. "Well look at our home-bred high-roller, making it big as a courier, eh?" He lifted a nearby piece of machinery, examined it a moment, then placed it on a nearby sled that didn't look like he would have trouble pulling, even fully loaded. "Right then, well give me an hour or so to get all this stuff and get back to me."

Ruby gave a happy nod and led Veronica back out through the labyrinth of parts and scrap, looking pleased to be that much closer to fixing up the Vertibird. "Arnie's great with this kind of stuff; odds are, if you need a part for something, he's got it or knows someone who does." She stated confidently as they ducked back out into the street. The confidence seemed to shrink away though when she caught sight of a group of teens around her age.

"Well well, if it isn't newbie Ruby." One of the girl's announced, catching sight of the very recognisable red hair emerging from the store. She was tall girl with short-cut blond hair, a healthy dash of freckles crossing the bridge of her nose.

"No way, the Rube herself? I thought you vowed never to come back to Broken Springs?" A stocky boy called, lank brown hair falling about his face messily. Ruby grunted in irritation and turned to walk off, Veronica hurrying to follow, only for the group to move after them.

"What's with the twenty-one newbie? Sold us out for another Vault?" One of them called, Veronica couldn't tell which.

"Maybe she got bored of traipsing across the desert every day delivering letters?" Another shouted, their voice falling a little short as Ruby quickened her pace, face stony.

"No way, she wanted to be an expert at _everything_ remember?" The group fell into laughter as they faded from sight, apparently satisfied as they didn't pursue them further.

When Veronica caught up with Ruby's furious pace she didn't say anything, but obviously the redhead felt her curiosity and sighed, slowing down for the moment. "Don't worry about them, they're just idiots." Veronica raised her hands placating; she hadn't been about to ask if it struck such a deep nerve with the girl.

However after looking ahead of them, the girl apparently came to some conclusion and sighed, blowing a bang away from her face. "I told you before that I never really… fit in, around the Vault, because I love machines and everyone else just saw them as a means to get by. Well, when I was young and stupid… stupid _er_ anyway, I announced to the whole Vault that I was going to be an expert in everything."

Veronica cracked a grin at that; she could imagine a young Ruby, pig-tails and all, doing just that. The girl caught the look and despite herself, cocked a smirk. "Yeah yeah, yuck it up. But when I said that, it was to nearly the entire Vault. Damn near screamed it in fact." She muttered. "The Overseer, being as _great_ with kids as he was, simply told me that to be an expert in everything, I first had to be a newbie at everything."

Veronica's mouth formed into an 'o' understandingly, making Ruby roll her eyes. "Exactly, the nickname stuck and from then on I was 'Newbie Ruby', or just 'Rube'." She shrugged her shoulders lazily. "I suppose there could have been worse nicknames, 'Rubbish', 'Moody', 'Gloomy'… silver lining and all that. Still…" She sighed "…every time I hear it, it forces me to remember how different I am to the rest of my Vault."

She looked up, eyes widening for a moment. "Oh, we're here." Veronica looked up as well, only to gape in astonishment. "This, Veronica, is why nobody comes to the Vault anymore."


	13. Boot up the backside

**Yeah... no. Still don't.**

* * *

 _"_ _Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic._ _"_ – Arthur C. Clarke

* * *

Veronica stared out in disbelief, part of her struggling to comprehend how she had been so involved in Ruby's story that she had missed… this.

Stretching out in front of her was what looked to be a vast desert, only the sand was a dark, metallic grey. This in itself may not have been so strange if it weren't for the fact that she could quite clearly see the strangely-coloured desert was almost perfectly circular. Not only that, but its edges seemed to perfectly match the edge of Palm Springs' ruins. No, on second glance it was more like the buildings ended where the desert began, sometimes halfway through.

"Smell it." Ruby prompted, startling Veronica out of her inspection of the landscape.

The scribe gave the air a sniff and recoiled. "Metal?" There was a decidedly rusty and unpleasant tang to the air, like standing within some great, derelict machine. Ruby bent down and scooped up a handful of the strange grey sand, which Veronica was starting to suspect wasn't sand at all.

"Have you ever heard of a G.E.C.K?" Ruby asked, allowed in the dark powder to drift off her hand and re-join the rest of the unnatural desert.

"Gecko?"

"G.E.C.K, Garden of Eden Creation Kit." Ruby clarified. "It was an old-world device that was supposed to be used for mass terraforming, so that irradiated and barren land could be made fertile again." Veronica's eyes widened, such a thing would be immensely useful in their post-nuclear world. "I have no idea how it works, I don't think anyone in our Vault did; it was the most advanced tech we had in there."

Veronica's eyes only widened further. "So you had one?" However as soon as she said it she frowned; that wasn't right, they surely would have used such a thing.

"Yeah, we did; I imagine a few other Vaults did too, although I can't be sure." She looked up. "Would sure explain Arroyo." That place was just unnaturally fertile, a dense green oasis in an otherwise unforgiving wasteland. "Well, just like everything in our Vault, our G.E.C.K malfunctioned." She looked up. "It disassembled everything in a two mile radius to a molecular level; the ground, plants, buildings… then it broke." She chuckled. "Should have known really."

They began to walk across the desert and Veronica had to once again affirm that this wasn't sand, it was far finer, more powdery. It was a little difficult to walk on in fact, her foot kept sinking in and the tiny particles of metal were scratchy and irritating. "So you couldn't fix it?"

Ruby laughed. "No way. Like I said that thing was advanced… Like, really advanced. Some genius named Braun built it, head of Vault-Tec research, would have had resources like you wouldn't believe. Nah, ordinary people like us? Would take decades to catch up to guys like him." She looked down and kicked the metallic sand idly. "Maybe if we had a working one to look at…" She shrugged. "Vault city would never let us touch it and I'm pretty sure Arroyo treats there's like some holy relic." She scoffed and walked on.

It felt like an age to cross the flat, grey expanse, although it was probably close to an hour. With no shade and the sun beating down on them though it was an arduous journey. Luckily the approaching mountain provided lovely, cool shadows and they reached the nearly sheer rock face in better spirits. It took Ruby a moment to scout out the entrance to the Vault but soon they were carefully picking their way through a dingy, rather damp cave.

"Woh." Veronica had never seen a proper Vault door before, only heard about them; the stories didn't quite do them justice. An enormous cog-shaped slab of metal taller than she was and about twice as thick. It was currently rolled to one side of the entrance, the enormous '53' emblazoned on the metal turned upside down.

Even Ruby was smiling. "Good old Seal-n-Safe model 343, just about the only thing in our Vault that never broke down… thankfully." She had been to Bakersfield; that was not an enviable outcome.

They moved through the darkened corridors that were just barely lit by the dim emergency lighting. Ruby explained that the main generators for the Vault were removed when they built the town, almost everything useful was. The only things left were the shell of the Vault itself, and the geothermal power plant on the lowest level. Oh, and one other thing of course, but Ruby kept telling Veronica that it was a surprise.

Eventually, after having to navigate a few maintenance ducts to get around faulty doors – Veronica wasn't sure how everyone in the Vault did that daily – they reached what Ruby was apparently searching for. It was a large room, or so Veronica thought as it was darker than most of the others they had passed through, but didn't seem to have much function from what Veronica could tell; it was pretty empty.

At least she thought it was until Ruby flicked on her Pip-boy light to reveal banks of computer servers that filled up most of the space in the lofty room. At their centre was a single screen which, for the moment, was dark. However the redhead swiftly went about changing that as she flicked on switches in a very precise order, looking up occasionally at the blank screen. Veronica didn't perk up the courage to ask what she was doing until the servers around her all suddenly whirred to life, a white line appearing across the screen.

"Okay that should do it." Ruby proudly announced, standing back as more and more of the computers buzzed to life. "Veronica, I'd like you to meet one of my oldest friends, Vince."

The scribe blinked curiously, gaze flickering between the girl and the still unresponsive screen. "Vince?"

\ _That would be correct, young madam._ / A smooth, male voice answered suddenly, making Veronica nearly jump out of her skin. \ _Vault Intelligence Neuro-computational Element, ZAX prototype-model 2.37, at your service._ /

Ruby grinned at the scribe's reaction, having expected as much but drawing no less amusement from it. "He's the reason I dislike robots with programming to make them seem artificially intelligent." Somewhere in the back of the room ED-E beeped indignantly while PD simply displayed a frowning face. "This is a true A.I."

\ _You're as complimentary as ever Ruby._ / The screen noted agreeably, the white line wiggling in time with its speech.

"And you seem more sane that usual." Ruby shot right back with a cheeky smirk.

Vince coughed awkwardly – Yes coughed, as Veronica had to clarify in her mind – and chuckled. \ _Yes well, it seems a great deal of time inactive has done wonders for my programming; I believe I'm down to… The screen fizzled for a moment …six personalities, and only one of them is a gerbil. All the same, I do appreciate being woken up; it does get rather dull being asleep for fourteen months._ /

Ruby pouted, walking forward and rubbing the screen. "Aww, have the others been mistreating you Vince?"

\ _More like simply ignoring my existence sadly._ / The A.I admitted.

"I don't understand, wouldn't an A.I be extremely useful? Why haven't they transferred you to the surface?" Veronica cut in.

Ruby turned to look at the scribe and at the same time both she and Vince laughed, the computer recovering faster. \ _Perhaps a functioning A.I would be; I'm afraid my programming has a tendency to be a bit… unpredictable. Bless them, the residents of this Vault have done their best to maintain me, but something is deeply wrong with my core programming and nothing can fix that except a total re-boot. As you can understand I am somewhat… hesitant, of that solution._ /

"Actually I've been thinking about that Vince." Ruby mused, before changing gear entirely. "But first, obligatory catch-up time!"

Veronica was treated to the sight of Ruby suddenly flopping to the floor in a cross-legged pose as she began to regale the artificial intelligence with stories of her past year, flying over the courier work she did up until the last month rather quickly. Then her story really began as she recounted her near-death experience, the run in with the legion, finding the Vertibird, her time at Helios One, meeting Ruby and finally Vegas and the reunion with Benny. Veronica noted that she left out the trouble between them as well as firing ARCHIMEDES.

\ _It seems you have had a rather… active, month._ / Vince finally quipped.

"You can say that again." Veronica sighed; honestly it felt as though more had happened to her alone in the past couple of weeks than in a normal year, never mind Ruby.

\ _Ah, and you would be Veronica then?_ / Vince questioned; he didn't so much turn to her as the sine wave on his screen shifted in her direction. \ _Then I appear to have you to partially thank for my favourite storyteller's extra-exciting adventures this past month._ / Veronica simply blushed at that.

"Hey, credit where credit is due you bucket of bolts." Ruby grouched, flicking one of the large servers as though Vince could actually feel it. "Anyway, I've been thinking about your whole… personality issue. I think I may have a way of preserving you in one specific state while allowing you free reign of your faculties." It had been something she had been thinking about before that ill-fated delivery, made easier by the computer on her wrist.

She walked across the room and extended the Pip-Boy's small lead and linked up with Vince, transferring her idea across in the form of programming. It took Vince less than a second to receive, read, and understand all of it. \ _Interesting, I suppose this may work if properly executed._ / Ruby growled at the apparent shot at her skills. \ _However I would need a remote platform from which to download myself._ /

Ruby grinned. "Got it covered, how about PD here?" She motioned to the Securitron standing silently in the corner, which simply displayed a question mark, not understanding what was going on.

Vince scoffed, another noise that Veronica did not know computers could or would make. \ _As if that H &H trash could house even my operating software. Stanislaus would roll in his grave if he knew I'd even considered using it as a platform._/ Ruby's shoulders slumped slightly, she was sure it would work; it would have saved her some time programming the robot anyway. \ _What about that one?_ / Vince asked curiously, the squiggles on his screen moving to the other side where ED-E hovered.

The little eyebot gave a whistle of shock as suddenly all attention was on it. "ED-E?" Ruby asked curiously; she hadn't even considered the floating robot.

\ _Yes, it will do; I can see that its memory is large enough to support at least a small fragment of my network and the transmission hardware it contains will allow me a wide area to travel freely in._ / He explained. Ruby looked back at ED-E in a new light; she had seen its programming was advanced, but she hadn't thought by _that_ much. But if Vince believed it was a suitable platform, who was she to argue?

"Um, what's happening?" Veronica questioned suddenly, feeling very much like a third wheel at the moment.

"Oh, Vince has always complained about being cooped up inside his mainframe all the time." Ruby started. "So for a long time I've been thinking about how to download him into a more mobile body. But the problem is I wasn't sure how to isolate his 'sane' personality…" She motioned to the screen, indicating the Vince they had been talking to "…from the rest of him. I recently thought of a solution, so I figured, why not now?"

"So you're going to transfer his intelligence to ED-E?"

\ _Actually I will still reside within the Vault, I will simply be able to transmit a semblance of my personality through the machine. I imagine this will only work within a…_ / His screen fizzled again momentarily \ _…five hundred and twenty seven mile radius._ /

Veronica blinked, that was exactly much of a limitation. "So how long will that take?"

\ _Actually, it's already happened._ / Vince replied neutrally, and as if his words were prophetic ED-E suddenly lurched to one side before righting itself, a little unsteadily. \ _Ah, I forgot the stabilisers for a moment. It seems controlling it is somewhat more difficult than I had predicted._ / ED-E, or ED-E's body as it were, let out a series of beeps and whirrs that seemed far more placid than its usual exuberant outbursts. \ _One thing though Ruby._ /

The redhead looked up. "Yeah-ow!" ED-E rammed into the back of her, nearly knocking the girl over.

\ _Don't flick me./_

* * *

They stayed down in the room with Vince's 'body' for a while longer as Ruby worked to transfer over PD's voice synthesiser into ED-E's frame. As Vince said, he would prefer to actually be able to communicate in more than a confusing series of whistles and beeps like some corny side-kick from a 1970's sci-fi film. While Ruby worked, Veronica was treated to a series of amusing anecdotes from the young engineer's youth, that were increasingly turning the young engineer's face a shade closer to her hair.

It was during one particular story of the time Ruby came to him, almost as red-faced as she was now, asking about a certain problem all girls got at that age - because she was too embarrassed to go to her parents – that Ruby finally flipped. "You know, with some rigging I'm pretty sure I can make you speak with the accent of a German milk-maid, so I'd be careful what stories you tell _fraulein._ "She warned, eyebrow twitching dangerously.

\ _Perhaps if you were quicker with the maintenance, I wouldn't have to regale your friend with such stories. Besides, you organisms with your hormone-induced flush reflexes are far too delicate emotionally._ / The A.I shot back calmly; from what she had seen, Veronica was beginning to understand he wasn't the type to become too emotional.

"Oh quit whining, you never complained about how fast I did things that time I cleaned out your screen. I'd like to see anyone else successfully transfer a module between two machines with incompatible software this fast." With that she slammed the panel shut on the eyebot and stood back. "It'll just take me a moment to re-program it's-"

\ _Never you mind the programming, leave that to me._ / Vince cut in as ED-E's body gave another lurch. \ _Damn stabilisers, why do I keep forgetting those?_ / Both girls were suddenly forced to cover their ears as the hovering machine let out the most horrific warbling screech that varied in pitch and tone until finally Vince's voice filtered through.

\ _Right, testing, testing. This is the frequency you biologicals operate within right?_ / Vince asked, his even tones now emerging from ED-E's – no, Veronica supposed it was his now – body.

"Yes yes, jeez." Ruby complained, wiggling a finger in her ear to try and rid herself of the ringing that still echoed in her head; that had not been fun.

\ _Wonderful; if we have no further business here then, shall we be off?_ / He asked pleasantly.

Veronica and Ruby both shared a look before looking back at the hovering machine. "You're coming with us?" The redhead questioned.

\ _Of course, I only know the world of the surface through your stories and my, now rather outdated, memory banks. From what I gather the world can be rather… unforgiving towards synthetics like myself travelling alone._ / He explained patiently, looking as though he was experimenting with his body as various flaps and vents moved awkwardly across his new frame.

"I hadn't considered it, I thought you'd want to flex your newfound freedom honestly, but I don't see why not." Ruby replied, in a decidedly chipper manner.

"The more the merrier." Veronica shrugged.

As they walked out of the room Ruby winced suddenly as a high-pitched and fast-paced chittering sound came from the ZAX computer behind them. "Was that a hamster?" Veronica asked bemusedly, looking about for the little rodent.

\ _That would be Gerald._ / Vince clarified, a touch of amusement in his tone.

Ruby just sighed, slinking off to one side. "I'll go turn him off before he blows up the Vault…"

Veronica looked around in horror only to have Vince chuckle. \ _She is joking of course, I was long ago disconnected from any systems that might lead to the Vault's untimely destruction. Oh, and I believe I mentioned before that Gerald is a gerbil, not a hamster._ /

Veronica blinked, remembering when they were talking about Vince's other personalities. "You named your gerbil personality Gerald?"

The eyebot turned to her, topmost flap of his vent tilting up. \ _You have a better name?_ /

Veronica raised her hands placating. "No, no, just curious." Ruby couldn't come back soon enough, she was beginning to wonder just how 'sane' this A.I's personality was after all.

* * *

Vince seemed in an extraordinarily good mood as they made their way back across the sandy results of the failed G.E.C.K. His first view of the outside world had nearly rendered the little machine inert, as he immediately wondered at the impossibly high sky and the many different colours his sensors had never been exposed to in his isolated room. He was even fascinated by the metallic sand, floating as low as he could safely go and allowing his antennae to draw patterns in it.

He took great joy in testing out the capabilities of his new platform too, first floating as high as he could go – which was admittedly only around Ruby's head height – before zooming off to test the eyebot's speed. It was amusing to watch the little machine suddenly twirl randomly before zooming back down to the ground. Veronica didn't even know that eyebots could perform barrel rolls, but she took it as a learning experience.

\ _I have to say._ / Vince exclaimed excitedly as he moved to hover next to them, the edge of the faux-desert in sight. \ _This is quite exhilarating. Where are we going now?_ / He reminded Veronica of a child somewhat, so eager to explore and discover. Then she had to remind herself that this was a two hundred year old A.I that likely already knew more than she ever would in her lifetime.

"We're headed back to Broken Springs to pick up some parts, then we're going back to that vertibird to fix it up. From there, who knows?" Ruby explained, grinning; Vince's enthusiasm was infectious.

\ _Ah yes, VB-02 VTOL crafts, I have a few files on their prototype designs Vault-Tec managed to… acquire, from the military. No blueprints I'm afraid._ / Vince informed them, somewhat regretfully.

"No problem, I was planning on winging it anyway." Ruby shrugged.

"Wait wait, you have access to Vault-Tec files?" Veronica cut in, not sure whether to be alarmed or extremely excited.

\ _Not as many as I would like, admittedly, but far more than I am supposed to._ / Ruby and Vince seemed to share an amused look. \ _While I cannot access the mainframe directly, CALIX is a bit of a bastard like that, many of the restrictions placed on my files were somewhat… dysfunctional._ /

"Calix?" Veronica questioned, a little irked that this all seemed to be old news to Ruby.

\ _The A.I in charge of Vault-Tec's mainframe; it's still active… somewhere._ /

Ruby drooled a little at the thought; all those secrets, all those plans…

"So what kind of files _do_ you have access to?" Veronica interrupted before Ruby drowned them both in her saliva.

\ _I'm afraid you'd have to be more specific._ / Vince informed her, and she had nothing to say to that. Without some kind of basis or reference point she couldn't actually think about what she wanted to know. It was a question better left to somebody who knew Vault-Tec a bit better. Instead the trio continued on in a comfortable silence, all the way back to Arnie's shop.

Surprisingly, the big man was waiting for them outside of his shop already, with a large cart filled with various parts. Most noteworthy was the enormous rotor-wing that stuck up out of the heap; Veronica seriously had to wonder how he managed to acquire that in particular. Ruby hugged the giant and thanked him profusely, quickly paying him which took a massive chunk out of their savings. In all they had around nine thousand NCR dollars left, which was still nothing to scoff at.

The redhead seemed in quite the hurry to leave though as the goodbyes from that point were quite curt. It was only when they reached the outskirts of the town that Veronica brought it up.

"Is it okay to just leave like this?" She asked, glancing back at the town. "I mean, this is your home right? Shouldn't you want to stay a while to catch up with people?"

Ruby just smiled wanly. "Vault fifty-three was my home, Broken Springs is just a place I pass through every now and then."

Veronica frowned. "Then, what about your family?"

Ruby waved her hand airily. "Not here." Veronica blinked, making the redhead sigh. "Like I told you, the NCR didn't hesitate to draft many of our best engineers into their ranks, my parents among them." She looked up, scrutinising the sky before looking north-east. "Mom'll be in Shady Sands I imagine, she's the current director of the OSI; her programming skills as far as I know are unsurpassed. I can barely hold a candle." Her face was oddly stern as she said this.

"Not that it would matter much to her, or me for that matter." The engineer chuckled in a strange, humourless way. "We never really got on, me and my mother. She never admitted it, but I think she considered giving birth to me more of a duty to the Vault than out of any genuine motherly warmth." She grimaced. "No, it's probably better that we aren't around one another."

Veronica's frown became more pronounced. "You shouldn't think that way about your mother, I'm sure she must have loved you, even if she didn't show it... openly." Ruby just gave a noncommittal shrug. "What about your father?"

It was like watching an icy mountain thaw, immediately a fond smile spread across the redhead's features as she looked vaguely north-west. "I'm not sure what Dad's doing right now to be honest. When the NCR came needing skilled engineers he was the first out the door." She chuckled warmly. "I could never blame him though, technology is Dad's passion; if he's not crawling around inside an engine then he's not truly happy."

Veronica's lips twitched as she fought to keep a straight face. "So he's a lot like you in that regard."

Ruby nearly tripped over her own foot before correcting herself and rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "Eh, I suppose." From her blush she seemed to take that as quite the compliment. "I think that's why Mum and him eventually separated; she was always a little… high maintenance." She coughed into her hand when Veronica shot her a deadpan look. "Pun not intended. Last I heard he was up north somewhere working to bring a car-manufacturing plant back online, but he moves around a lot."

"But you said you were only thirteen when you left the Vault?" Veronica questioned.

"Old enough to be an adult by Vault standards." The engineer shrugged casually. "But apparently not anywhere else…" She grumbled. "I'll be honest, I was a bit lost at first; I was too young to be conscripted by the NCR, not that I wanted to be, and nobody took a thirteen year old seriously when she told them she was an expert engineer. So I became a courier, it let me travel and see new things and that was fun." She scratched her nose idly. "Although, to be honest most of the time I was just walking back and forth along Highway 95."

"I'm glad at least you get along with your father." Veronica intoned with a small smile, making Ruby look back curiously.

"Oh yeah, I never really asked about your family; what are your parents like?"

The scribe coloured slightly, looking down and scratching at her ear. "Ah well, I don't really know; I mean, the whole Brotherhood is my family really." She grinned unconvincingly. "It's Brotherhood policy that children be separated from their parents at a young age; if you're born in the Brotherhood then you're born a soldier." She shrugged. "I know my father was a paladin and my mother a scribe, I sometimes imagine the romance that must have happened to bring them together."

"So you've never even met them?" Ruby asked, concern evident.

"Well, maybe when I was very little, but I was taken on as an apprentice to Elder Elijah at a young age and moved to the Mojave with him and the rest of the Chapter not soon after." She saw Ruby's worry and waved her off quickly. "It's alright though, Elijah's a lot like a father to me anyway." And at that her expression soured significantly as she was reminded of the reason she and Ruby had even met. "Or, he was…"

Ruby smiled supportively and slung an arm around the taller girl in a rather awkward hug as they walked. "We'll find him." The scribe smiled back appreciatively.

\ _You humans continue to confound me even after two hundred years._ / Vince suddenly cut in, breaking the moment irrevocably. \ _Your concept of 'family' is as skewed as anything I have seen or read about in my long life._ / He practically sighed. \ _You understand me, right PD?_ /

The poor Securitron seemed a little out of its depth as it raised an exclamation mark at suddenly being addressed, a face with swirls for eyes replacing it quickly.

\ _Precisely._ / Vince agreed sagely, prompting both girls to laugh as the previously heavy atmosphere cleared.

* * *

They set up camp that night on a stony mesa, Broken Springs still in sight as a sprinkle of lights way off in the distance. Veronica noted that Ruby had been oddly quiet during most of their walk that day; it almost felt like the journey here. Fearing exactly that might happen again, with the awkwardness between them returning now that they were essentially alone once more, she took off after the girl when she saw her slip out of their tent.

She found her some distance away, legs dangling over the rocky outcropping as she stared back at the flicker of light that was her pseudo home-town. She plopped herself down next to the younger girl and joined her in looking south.

"Sorry if I woke you." The voice the redhead spoke with was not Ruby's – not the Ruby Veronica had come to know anyway – it was meeker, more vulnerable.

"You didn't." She looked up, spotting a vibrant tapestry of stars littering the sky; however the engineer's eyes were focused elsewhere. "No stargazing tonight?"

Ruby chuckled weakly. "I don't feel like it; this close to home, with all the people I knew, my dream just feels that much stupider."

The two lapsed into a stifled silence again as Veronica thought of what to say; finally she decided to go all in, to properly apologise for what she had done, only for Ruby to beat her too it.

"Have you ever been in love?" She asked suddenly, startling the scribe as she turned to look at her. In the dimming light her blue eyes seemed to burn a little more fiercely than usual, reflecting the light from the far-off town.

The question caught Veronica off-guard, causing her to work her mouth wordlessly for a moment before composing herself with a soft smile. "Once… I suppose. We were young I guess, but I'd like to think it was still love."

"What happened?" Ruby responded faintly, turning back to look at the town.

"We were both too stubborn for our own good; events forced us apart and while I chose to stay…" she glanced at Ruby "…she chose to leave." Ruby gave no reaction save for a small nod and with the barest sigh of relief she continued. "As you might have guessed, the Brotherhood isn't exactly racing to admit outsiders, so procreation is seen as somewhat of a duty… for everyone." She leaned back, fingers idly drawing patterns in the dusty ground.

"I don't know which Elder signed off the order, doesn't really matter I suppose, but she was re-located." She laughed dryly. "I don't even know where." She glanced back at the redhead. "She could have refused the order of course, and I think she knew that, but it would have crippled her career within the Brotherhood." She shrugged. "So she left." The redhead's gaze dropped a little. "Why do you ask?"

The girl was playing with something in her hand, a small stone, rolling it between her fingers idly. "I've never been in love, I think. I've always assumed it's the kind of thing you just… know, right?" Veronica nodded slowly. "Silly crushes, sure." She thought of Manny, a few boys her age she had met while travelling, even the King had intrigued her slightly. "But never love." She smiled weakly. "To be honest, I've only ever had one real friend around my age." She looked up and caught Veronica's eye.

"That's why I was really excited when I got to know you; somebody I could understand, who understood me. Somebody who wouldn't be driven away by my love of technology, that has so much in common with me." She sighed wanly. "So when… _that_ happened." Veronica grimaced, knowing exactly what she meant. "I was just so surprised and… well, felt betrayed. I thought I'd finally found a friend only to have that person reveal they're interested in me… _that_ way instead."

Veronica was about to interject only to have Ruby raise her hand. "I know you don't, that it was just the alcohol." Veronica couldn't quite explain the sudden lurch in her chest she felt at those words. "But I just wanted to let you know that I really am happy to have found you, and to still have you as a friend, even with the massive jerk I've been recently."

The two were quiet for a while before Veronica finally sighed, an indecipherable smile quirking her lips. "You have such a martyr complex." Ruby blinked in surprise only for that shock to turn into irritation when Veronica lightly punched the girl in the arm. "Don't try to take everything onto your shoulders." She leaned back on her hands again, looking out towards the horizon. "This is my fault too."

Ruby's mouth had formed a small 'o' that would have made Veronica laugh if she was looking. But eventually it turned into a brighter smile than had been seen on the girl's face in a while. She also leaned back, enjoying the view before –after a moment's hesitation – looking up at the sky. She barely even noticed how her fingers had overlaid on Veronica's. The two remained in that comfortable quiet for a while, at least until Ruby opened her mouth again.

"You know, I don't care that you're gay." She blurted, looking as though she had been holding that in for a while.

Veronica just sighed in amusement. "I figured."

"No really." The redhead continued, a blush colouring the bridge of her nose. "I've met loads of cool gay people while travelling. There was this one guy-"

"Ruby." Veronica interjected, failing to hide her amusement.

"Yeah?"

"Don't make it awkward."


	14. Grand designs

**I'm late to update and I can't even make it up by owning Fallout... Whoops**

* * *

 _"_ _We've arranged a civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology._ _"_ – Carl Sagan

* * *

Now that they were talking again the three day trip back to the Mojave seemed to fly by. It was still a pain moving during the day with the intense Californian heat beating down on them. At least PD was dragging the parts behind it on a makeshift cart, so they didn't have to do _that_ themselves. Still, despite their shared happiness at making up with one another, both were relieved to see the crater come into view ahead of them; it was a chance to rest aching feet if nothing else. Veronica especially was tired of walking all day straight; at least Ruby was a courier.

"Right!" The aforementioned redhead exclaimed brightly, rubbing her hands together in what might have been construed as a diabolical manner if Veronica didn't know better. "Time to get to work… finally." She leapt up onto the ridge of the trench with far more energy that she had any right to still have and beamed. "First things first, we're going to have to dig this thing out, then we'll have to drag it up onto some flatter land to work on."

Veronica was already groaning at the idea of shovelling out mounds of dirt, she drew the line at dragging a fifteen ton vehicle up an angled trench. "How are we going to do that exactly?" She just wanted to flop on the ground and rest for a while; this was too much.

"Dunno." Ruby shot back flippantly, already taking a shovel off the cart. "We'll figure that out after, now come on."

The scribe was forced to catch the shovel that was thrown at her lest it hit her head. "Can't we just let PD do it?" She groaned, already knowing the answer a she trudged toward the vertibird.

"No way, that'd take ages." Ruby shouted indignantly. Veronica had figured as much and was already digging into thankfully soft earth that had been churned up by the crash. The manual labour turned out to be even worse than she thought; the elongated crater offered no shade from the merciless sun. Not to mention every time she accidentally touched the hull of the vehicle, the sun-baked metal would burn her.

However the two of them and PD, who worked without any complaint and shovelled nearly twice as much as the two humans combined, made steady progress. Ruby had them focus on digging out the interior first, because she wanted to know just what the vertibird had been carrying before its untimely landing; aside from its payload of robots of course, which were still off deterring any would-be interlopers.

Initially there was nothing of interest as they dug down into the back of the craft, a couple of radiation suits in a trunk, some guns and ammunition, the usual stuff one would expect on a military vehicle. Things got more interesting though when Veronica found three lockers towards the read of the vertibird that she recognised, because the Brotherhood used them as well.

"Ruby, I think you'll want to see this." She called out, shovelling out a few more spades of dirt until she had completely revealed the rather unique lockers. Ruby walked over just as the scribe pulled a handle out, twisted it one around and pushed it back it. The locker opened with a click and both girl's gaped at what was inside. "Well…" Veronica started, grinning widely "…At least now we know how we're going to get this thing out of the trench."

* * *

"I want to try one on."

"You can't."

"But I _really_ want to try one on."

"You know why you can't."

Ruby huffed irritably, staring down at the three, nearly pristine suits of X-01 Mk II power armour. "Yeah I know why I can't, but it doesn't mean I have to like it." She grumbled, crossing her arms petulantly at missing out on an opportunity to actually _wear_ power armour. She wasn't much of a fighter but even she thought it would be cool to punch through solid concrete.

Veronica patted her shoulder consolingly. "It's alright, it takes days of training before even Brotherhood recruits get the hang of moving about in it." It was extremely dangerous to use untrained, people's bones were broken by the strength of the hydraulics in those suits.

"Teach me." Ruby suddenly demanded, causing Veronica to blink in surprise. "Teach me how to wear it; fixing this vertibird is going to take days anyway, so teach me how to use power armour."

Veronica backed up, hands raised to ward the persistent girl off. "I'm not really qualified to-"

"You can use it right?" Ruby interrupted, getting a reluctant nod. "Better than nothing!"

Veronica paused, considering it. It didn't look like Ruby was going to relent on this subject; if this were a cartoon she'd have stars in her eyes. She _did_ remember all the pointers Ramos gave her when she was learning, but at the same time she didn't want to accidentally break Ruby's spine. Still better than the girl sneaking off a night to try it anyway and ending up breaking her spine herself though.

"What's in it for me?" She shot back; might as well get something out of potentially endangering her friend. Huh, didn't sound so good when she thought of it that way.

"I'll let you pick the first place we go in the vertibird." Ruby offered instantly.

Veronica's hand was up faster than you could say Elijah. "Deal."

"Right." The redhead exclaimed excited. "Time to crack it open then!" She was already moving over to the suits when Veronica grabbed her by the back of the jumpsuit, dragging her back toward the vertibird.

"Vertibird now, dismantling priceless technology later." She sighed; she swore Ruby had the attention span of a bloatfly.

"Aww come on; we have three of them!" The engineer complained, only to see Veronica wasn't relenting. "I'll be careful with the nuclear reactors, I swear!" If anything the scribe's pace toward the 'Bird only quickened. "Spoil Sport." She detached herself from the older girl's grip and dusted herself off petulantly. "Well seeing as you're the only one who knows how to wear the things, you know what that means, right?"

Veronica felt decidedly uncomfortable in that moment.

* * *

It turned out that what Ruby meant was turning Veronica into a very expensive and very high-tech car jack. She would don the bulky armour – a process that seemed to excite the redhead to no end – and use its strength-enhancing properties to lift up various parts of the vertibird so that Ruby could work on them, sometimes for up to an hour at a time. It was through her and PD's combined efforts on the second day that finally saw the craft dragged out of its crater and onto some more level ground.

This finally allowed them to clear out the rest of the vertibird's interior, where they happened upon their second surprising discovery.

"What the hell is it?" Ruby questioned nobody in particular as she and Veronica stared down at the strange, glowing… thing.

"I… have no idea." The scribe admitted slowly, tilting her head as though it would give her some new perspective on the strange contraption.

"Looks like some weird power coupling." Ruby hazarded a guess, owing to the device's many wires and elongated shape.

"Are you sure? Looks like a rocket launcher to me… but made of glass… and glowing." The scribe countered uncertainly.

"You think it's a weapon?" The redhead asked curiously.

"Maybe." Veronica shrugged. "It's got a trigger."

The engineer blinked owlishly. "That's a trigger?" She looked at the strange object again. "I thought it was a mount."

Both continued to scrutinise the strange piece of tech only for Vince to buzz over. _\I believe that it what is known a Tesla_ _C_ _annon, although it matches only a few of the specifications I have on file so must be quite heavily modified._ / He informed them knowingly.

"Oh, so it is a weapon." Ruby drawled, any interest she had in the funky-looking contraption evaporating on the spot. "Neat… I guess." She intoned in the most bored voice imaginable, already turning away to go fix the vertibird some more.

"Aren't you even a little interested in what it does?" Veronica called after her, rolling her eyes at her friend's predictable behaviour; only to pause thoughtfully and look to Vince. "What _does_ it do?"

\ _It is a shoulder-mounted directed energy weapon, designed for use against ground-based armoured vehicles and machines._ / He explained helpfully.

Veronica turned expectantly to the redhead only to get a disinterested wave. "Not interested."

The scribe just huffed, picking up the tesla cannon and hefting it awkwardly onto her shoulder; she wasn't wearing the armour right now – it was far too hot to do so all the time – so it was pretty heavy. "Well I am, come on Vince." The pair wandered outside, looking around until they spotted what they were looking for, one of the Sentry-bots Ruby had reprogrammed to guard the broken craft.

\ _What are you planning?_ / The eyebot intoned curiously.

"Just a little test-run." Veronica answered, wiggling the strange piece of tech until it sat more comfortably in the crook of her neck. "How powerful did you say this thing was again?"

\ _I didn't._ / Vince replied, inching away from the girl and the cumbersome weapon as she aimed it at the Sentry-bot. \ _It did not see wide-scale usage during the_ _Resource Wars_ _._ /

Veronica just grinned, holding the grip securely. "A surprise then, cool." She took a breath to steady herself before firmly squeezing the trigger. The Tesla Cannon hummed loudly in her ear, glowing a bright and oddly cheerful orange as tiny lances of crackling lightning built up at the end of the weapon. Then, with a rush of air, it discharged all at one, a lance of energy blasting out the end and impacting with the robot firmly in the chest.

Electricity crackled around the machine for a few moments as its mechanised limbs twitched oddly. Then, without warning, its head simply exploded, showering the area with little chunks of singed metal. Veronica grinned brightly at the ease with which the machine had been dispatched, as well as the power of the cannon. "That was awesome, why didn't these things see wider use?" Almost as if to answer her question the orange light within the device flickered for a moment before fading, a faint 'chink' echoing out from inside.

\ _They had a high energy cost and were prone to malfunction._ / Vince supplied cheerily as Veronica grumbled about the finicky piece of tech. She had a feeling that Ruby wasn't going to fix this for her if she asked. But that was okay, she was a Brotherhood scribe after all – well, journeyman scribe at least – and she could fix it herself. However she balked when she opened a side hatch to see an inconsolable mess of wires and tiny components. She wasn't even sure the people who _made_ this knew what they were doing.

She didn't get much of a chance to wallow in her own inability though as she heard a scream from the vertibird; Ruby's scream.

* * *

Ruby pretended to fix the console of the vertibird until Vince and Veronica disappeared with their newest toy. She gave a sigh and immediately chucked the spot welder into a nearby toolbox, instead pulling out a Nuka Cola and collapsing onto one of the benches that ran the length of the 'Bird. It was a hot day and even she was human. Her sigh was of delight as the cool, refreshing liquid washed down her throat, giving her the usual tingling feeling and helping her cool off.

Idly, she looked about the interior of the craft; right now it was a bit dingy and unlit, not to mention filthy from all the dirt they had been shovelling out. However it provided excellent shade from the Mojave sun. Cleaning it all up again was not an exciting prospect; she was an engineer, not a maid. As she looked up though she noticed a small groove running through the dirt at the point where the wall and ceiling met.

"Overhead lockers?" She mused out loud, putting her drink to one side to get a better look. It was no wonder they hadn't noticed them before, they were so encased in earth that the catch was barely recognisable. With a bit of strain she managed to prise it open, grinning at what she might find, only for her eyes to widen in horror. She scrambled back, terrified; however thanks to the slight tilt of the ship they fell out onto her. An ear-piercing scream ripped from her throat.

"Ruby! What's wrong?" By the time Veronica clambered through the hatch, Ruby was pushing her back into the corner, fruitlessly trying to put as much distance between her and them as possible. The scribe quickly assessed the situation, noting the open compartment and the bricks of explosives now littering the floor. "Ruby, it's okay, they're not active." She tried to console the girl, but it didn't even look like Ruby could hear her.

She was a state, a light sheen of sweat covered her skin, she looked even paler than normal and her eyes were screwed shut as she continued to push herself back into the unyielding wall. "Ruby!" Veronica tried to call her again, only to have a single eye crack open; once she caught sight of the explosives again though it slammed back shut and she resumed her whimpering. Thinking quickly the scribe collected up the blocks of explosives and carried them outside, dumping them in the empty crater for now.

When she got back in the 'Bird Vince was hovering over the catatonic engineer, unsure of what to do. Veronica crouched down next to the girl, gently prying her arms away from where they were tightly clutched around her shoulders. "Ruby, it's okay, they're gone now." Ever so slowly the young engineer stopped quivering, opening her eyes slowly. She was breathing heavily, taking in large, gulping breaths as she gradually unwound from her foetal position.

"I-I'm fine." She managed after a few moments; although it was painfully apparent she was not. Her arms were still shaky and her skin hadn't regained its colour. Veronica found her cola and handed it to the girl, who clutched it like a dying man would a life preserver. "S-Sorry… I didn't know about them." She whimpered, still looking a bit furtive, but improving. "I-I'm usually okay with them, when I know they're deactivated. I just… they caught me by surprise."

She stood slowly, still clutching the drink in a white-knuckle grip; Veronica stood with her, worry evident on her face. "Are you sure you're-"

Ruby raised a somewhat steady hand and gave a weak smile. "I'll be okay now, I just… I need a moment." She carefully clambered out of the craft with Veronica watching on in worry; it was only when the girl was out of sight that Vince finally piped up.

\ _What was that about?_ /

Veronica sighed uncertainly; she had never seen Ruby look like that. "I don't know." The only thing she could compare it to would be some kind of PTSD reaction; she had seen that kind of thing from some Brotherhood knights who still had vivid flashbacks to the battle for Helios.

\ _I wonder if this was the influence of the Vault?_ / The A.I mused. \ _You humans are such fragile creatures._ /

Veronica wanted to kick herself for being so stupid; how could she forget? In a Vault where everything was constantly breaking down or malfunctioning, of course explosives would be some of the most dangerous things around. Then again, that fear she had seen in Ruby was not the wariness one would adopt from a long-standing custom or a warning received from your elders. Ruby had been genuinely terrified, and it made Veronica wonder what she had to have seen…

* * *

Thankfully it didn't take that long for Ruby to recover from her experience and go back to the usual chipper technophile they all knew and loved. Things returned to a modicum of normality – or as normal as things got in post-apocalyptia – and the incident wasn't brought up again. Ruby was obviously not ready to talk about it and Veronica trusted her to explain when she was ready. In the meantime they distracted themselves with the menial labour of repairing their vertibird.

That was during the day, at night they would entertain themselves in various ways, including Veronica teaching Ruby how to use power armour. It was a dangerous piece of equipment because you had to train yourself to react to how the machine was moving. The armour provided enhanced strength and allowed the user to move in such a bulky suit by predicting the movements of the wearer and augmenting them. Even the smallest of movements could trigger it and those unprepared could have limbs broken, or even be killed with mistreatment.

They also partook in some less life-threatening activities, like card games – at least ones that didn't involve probability, otherwise Ruby swept the board – or just telling stories. Vince in particular, with his two hundred years of 'life' had a great deal of amusing anecdotes of the various Vault Dwellers he had known. A high-stress environment like Vault fifty-three had been in the beginning was a breeding ground for all sorts of hilarious situations.

In all it took around nine days to finish refurbishing the vertibird and it was with great relish that Ruby finally engaged the engines, watching with unrestrained glee as the dashboard lit up with sensor read-outs, atmospheric readings and a cacophony of lit buttons and dials. It was like watching Christmas happen right before her eyes, and she said as much, before having to explain the concept of Christmas to an ignorant Veronica; that was a weird conversation.

"Wait wait, I still don't get it… so because of some guy born thousands of years ago, a fat guy in a red jumpsuit squeezes down maintenance shafts to deliver presents to kids; and this happens every year?" She repeated slowly, obviously quite sceptical of the whole thing and beginning to feel like some joke was being played on her.

Ruby just sighed in consternation. "Never mind that! Jeez, we finally get the damn 'Bird running and _this_ is what you want to talk about?"

"You brought it up!" Veronica shot back accusingly.

Ruby just waved her off. "Forget I said anything." She turned back to the vertibird and grinned. "We finally have our transport!" She ran up to the large craft and awkwardly hugged the hull; the vertibird itself was now clean, having been wiped down thoroughly to remove any remaining dirt that might clog vital systems. "I love it so much." She took a few steps back, admiring the ship with a seemingly irrepressible smile. "I'm going to call you… Firebug!"

"Firebug?" Veronica repeated, brow raised. Although, she had to admit that with the early morning sunlight reflecting off the metallic hull, at some angles it almost looked as though the ship was on fire, and with its bulbous cockpit and almost tear-shaped body it did somewhat resemble a giant insect. Actually, the name was quite fitting.

The redhead danced back from the craft, hands jittery as she thought of all the possibilities. "This is so great! All the places I always wanted to go; NASA's space centre in Houston, Bloomfield aerospace facility, the Grand Canyon, MIT in Boston… Ah." She paused and blushed. "Maybe not MIT… still need the fuel to travel." However she paused, remembering something with a sheepish smile. "Wait, I promised you the first destination didn't I?" She turned back to Veronica.

The scribe didn't have the heart to break that excited expression and just smiled serenely. "I read once that the Grand Canyon is supposed to be a pretty amazing tourist spot?"

Ruby's face lit up like a million stars as she turned on a heel and pointed to the sky. "Onwards then pilot!" She turned to where Vince was floating nearby. "Navigator!"

Veronica cocked a cheeky grin as she clambered into the duel-rotor helicopter, tipping a finger Ruby's way. "Aye-aye Captain." However as she worked herself into the pilot's chair Ruby jerked in place, quickly scrabbling out of her seat.

"Woops, forgot something, open the cargo bay." She jumped right out of the hatch, running off somewhere. Veronica blinked at the request, but nevertheless flicked the switch that opened up the bay door at the back of the craft. She was actually rather glad for the chance to familiarise herself with the controls before they took off. Everything now resembled how things were in the simulations, but that's all her experience was… simulated.

A few minutes later, after Veronica was ninety percent certain she knew what ever screen, button and switch did, Ruby reappeared. Behind her trailed a small contingent of robots, the very same that had been used to guard the 'Bird in the first place. She led them all into the cargo hold and had them deactivate, each of them collapsing into more manageable, compressed forms that didn't take up as much space.

She clambered back into the co-pilots chair looking red-cheeked and out of breath but smiling nevertheless. "Never know when you'll need a small army of robots, right? Funniest thing though, some bandits must have passed by; one of the sentry bots was missing its head, looked as though it had been blown right off."

Veronica and Vince shared a look.

"Wouldn't know anything about that."

\ _How very strange._ /

They spoke at the same time, causing Ruby to look at them suspiciously. However the excitement of the moment made her forget it soon enough as she pulled a pair of large headphones over her ears. "Okay, testing, testing." She called out into the attached microphone as the rotors began to wind up. Veronica gave the thumbs up and she beamed, pointing through the thin slats of the vertibird's cockpit. "Great, then first stop: Grand Canyon!"

* * *

The ride wasn't what anybody could call smooth, the vertibird occasionally lurched to one side as Veronica forgot which screen was the altimeter and which was the primary flight display. She was also a little heavy on the clutch and she was gripping the stick with a force a yao guai couldn't match. However Ruby was loving every moment of it, even when the craft went into a small nose dive and the only thing holding her to the chair were the harness straps. Vince certainly got a good test for his stabilisers as she managed to re-orient herself _before_ hitting some power lines.

Eventually the gaping hole in the earth that was the Grand Canyon came into view… sort of. It was very difficult to see anything out of the five inch slats at the front of the cockpit so they mostly had to rely on the vertibird's built-in navigation software. It was a good thing there were still satellites working somewhere up there. Of course Ruby was confident they'd make it, the NCR and the Enclave before them had managed to fly these things without too many problems.

Discounting this very one that had crashed for unknown reasons…

Everyone bounced as the vertibird dropped the last couple metres to the ground, the rotors cutting out unexpectedly as Veronica hit the wrong switch. "Phew, made it." Ruby exclaimed brightly as she swiftly unbuckled her harness and hopped out of her seat. Veronica followed on a few moments later, much slower, and looking a lot paler.

They had to shield their eyes from the glare of the sun as they stepped out, used to the dim interior of the helicopter. However sure enough, they were there; they could see the edges of the great canyon stretch on for miles from their vantage point. In a twist of fate Veronica had actually managed to set them down within sight of a building that seemed purpose-built for tourists. Next to it an enormous metal construct stretched off the side of the canyon wall, thick cables the width of an arm linking two sides of the mighty divide while a gondola hung precariously somewhere between.

Against all reason, and likely to the horror of tour guides everywhere, Ruby did the one thing that is generally disapproved of; she ran straight up to the edge of the canyon to look right down. She quickly recoiled in shock though after seeing what lay at the base of the mile-deep ravine. As far as the eye could see, noxious green fumes drifted about like some sickly fog that completely enveloped the floor of the canyon.

She jumped back even further when a faint scream of some unidentified creature echoed up to her out of the swirling mists. Obviously the toxic mire down there wasn't completely uninviting for some manner of animal; at least, Ruby severely hoped it was just animals down there. The wastes had a history of creating some rather… unique creatures. "Dammit, sometimes I hate living in post-apocalyptia." She muttered morosely.

"Actually…" Veronica cut in, reading an old, faded sign that was posted nearby "…looks like this was some kind of hazardous waste dump for a while before the War." The sign certainly looked to be over two hundred years old, and the warning symbol painted in bright yellow was still as evident as ever.

"Well… that wasn't in the brochures." Ruby mused irritably; it hadn't been in the papers either – at least the ones in the archive room back in the Vault – so it must have been covered up. Although, looking down at the sluggish mists at the base of the canyon, it was hard to believe anyone could cover up such a thing.

"I thought this was supposed to be some national park, tourist attraction thing?" Veronica commented as she also moved over to the edge, onto to grimace at the sight as another strangled noise emerged from within the toxic dump.

"It is… was… I don't know." Ruby shrugged helplessly; why couldn't she find one thing in the post-nuclear hell-scape that wasn't somehow tainted by the idiocy of people past. She went to take another glance over the edge in search of something to redeem the trip only to think better of it. She still had images of what the Grand Canyon was supposed to look like from old pictures, no need to go ruining that image anymore.

"Well, what now?" Veronica posed as the two began idly walking towards the tourist building; it was as good a place as any to go without any other plans.

"I'm not sure to be honest." The engineer sighed, thoroughly disheartened by all of this. She had though this a chance to act like proper teens from before the war, to re-capture some of the magic they had experienced in Repconn's HQ.

Veronica walked over to the rusted gondola support beam that stuck out of the rock face. The poor thing looked ready to give out at any moments, letting out low creaks and groans as the wind blew past. Rust had eaten away at all but the strongest supports and much of the ground where it was riveted into the ground was cracked and broken from holding the weight of the frame for so long. The scribe grinned and reached up to pat the aging mechanism.

"Maybe we should take a ride across on the gondola, so we can say we've had 'the experience.'" She suggested jokingly, only to jump in fright as the Gondola frame gave out an alarming groan at her touch. Echoing creaks could faintly be heard along the length of the cables until finally, with a shuddering snap, the steel tethers gave out entirely, snapping somewhere along the middle. The two could only watch with ponderous awe as the gondola itself – a steel ball that had been hanging precariously between the two edges up until now – swung like a pendulum down into the misty abyss below.

"Whoops." Veronica muttered weakly as she saw the metal ball drop. "I'm going to say that _wasn't_ my fault and-"

She was cut off by a deafening clang that most definitely was _not_ the sound of a steel sphere meeting the rocky ground. Both girls were nearly brought to their knees by the metallic toll akin to some enormous bell ringing out inside their heads. However both of them saw the exact same thing; for a moment, just as the gondola cut a swathe through the sickly fog below them, they both saw the glint of something very big.

A few moments of silence later as they processed what they saw, Ruby looked across at Veronica with a very recognisable face. "No." The scribe immediately shot her down with as stern an expression as she could muster.

"But it would be so quick!" Ruby shot back.

"No!"

"Oh come on, you must be curious, I know you saw it too!"

"No!"

"Please? The vertibird is radiation shielded, we'd be fine." Ruby argued, giving her best puppy-dog expression.

"And how were you planning on exploring anything from inside of a vertibird." Veronica challenged, only to kick herself internally for even entertaining the idea.

"We have the power armour, they're radiation-resistant!" Ruby shot back smugly.

"And the… whatever's down there?" Veronica groaned, already feeling like this was going to happen, with or without her say-so.

"That's what I have you for!" The redhead exclaimed brightly, already jogging back to the vertibird. There was something down in that canyon and dammit if she didn't want to find out what it was. Veronica trailed after her morosely, however even she couldn't deny that she was intrigued by what she saw. However the main thought going through both girls' minds as they moved back towards the vertibird – and potential doom – was what they had seen down there.

It was big, it was metallic and Ruby had a sneaking suspicion it was some kind of hull based on the large markings she had spotted. The real question for the young engineer was: _'What the heck is B.O.M.B -002?'_


	15. Tripping an odyssey

**£924 to fly from Birmingham to Maryland? Screw that malarcky! maybe going to the Bethesda main office isn't the best idea...**

* * *

 _"_ _A satellite has no conscience._ _"_ – Edward R. Murrow

* * *

As the vertibird descended into the nightmarish mist at the base of the canyon it became evident that things were far worse down here than they had looked from up top. Even with the rotors clearing the air a bit and the 'Bird's spotlight illuminating the area around them, they still couldn't see very far into the thick fog. Occasionally a black shape seemed to flit across their vision, but they were still hoping those were just tricks of the light.

Ruby was already suited up in her power armour, the sound of her own breath reverberating loudly in her ears through the helmet's built-in respirator. Even so, when Veronica announced that she had found the mysterious object and touched down on the ground with a stomach-churning lurch, she felt oddly vulnerable. While she waited for Veronica to put her own suit on, she fingered the plasma rifle in her hands.

The scribe had refused to allow her to leave the vertibird without a weapon and, not knowing what was out there in the radioactive mist, she figured the little laser pistol just wouldn't cut it. Instead she had been given the very rifle they had recovered from Repconn; although the first time it had been thrust into her hands she had held it like one might a dirty towel. It had looked so threatening and dangerous then, now it looked comparatively small in her armoured hands.

The reverberating thump as she dropped out of the 'Bird made her cringe as it echoed off the canyon walls. From down here she could see the curtain of putrid mist stretched over twenty feet off the valley floor. Sunlight only streamed through in weak rays, washing everything in a sickly green hue. She actually flinched as Veronica dropped down next to her, looking unrecognisable behind the menacing vulture-esque mask.

{Right.} Even her voice was distorted, coming between short burst of static as she glanced about the area. {Whatever that thing was, it's north of us, we should get moving.} She turned and lumbered off, each step making a rhythmic thump against the rock followed by the wheeze of hydraulics. Ruby had read descriptions of power armour that called them 'walking tanks', she could really see why now.

Moving inside the bulky suits was awkward though; it only took the tiniest movements from her legs before the powered motors kicked in, finishing the movement for her. It was like walking through air and treacle at the same time; effortless, yet weirdly cumbersome. Ruby followed after the other girl with her own lumbering gait as Veronica's bulky form soon became nothing more than a silluoette amidst the swirling fog.

{I thought this was supposed to be some kind of waste disposal site?} Veronica observed, her voice blaring in Ruby's ear suddenly and nearly making the girl fire off a shot by accident. However she had to admit that Veronica had a point; there was a conspicuous absence of the usual signs of dumping.

{Well, I don't actually know for sure.} The redhead replied, her voice a little shaky; the eerie quiet of the canyon beginning to get to her. {I just assumed as much from the fog.} As she said that she noticed a large barrel sticking out of the ground nearby. { _Something's_ been dumped here anyway.} Although she could also see evidence of what looked to be some kind of large-scale mining operation in the various tools left scattered about.

{Ah, I see something ahead.} Veronica piped up, quickening her pace a little. Sure enough, indistinct shapes began to resolve themselves within the mist, large sheets of metal and twisted machines sticking haphazardly out of the ground. {Seems we've found what we were looking for.}

However Ruby wasn't focused on her, instead staring up at something perched atop one of the larger metal plates, something distinctly inhuman. {Veronica look out!}

The scribe turned in time to see something flying at her, instinctively raising her arms into a quick guard. For a moment there was the horrible screech of something scraping against metal, but the power armour held out. Ruby quickly lost sight of Veronica's struggles though; she had her own problems as similar little creatures suddenly darted out of every nook and shadow around. On reflex she tapped her palm three times and immediately reality slowed down for her, just as one of the chattering little creatures leapt toward her.

It seemed to hang there in the air, not two feet from Ruby's visored face. This close she could see every disgusting detail in very much unwanted clarity, from its razor sharp little teeth to its bulbous, milky-white eyes. Its skin was the colour of blood, looking red and raw like a tiny human had been flayed alive. Her eyes were most drawn to the spindly claws that didn't so much extend from its fingers, as they _were_ its fingers.

As the familiar feeling of blood rushing through her ears alerted her to VATs' deactivation she swung the plasma rifle around as fast as possible and let loose, squeezing the trigger as fast as she could, as many times as she could. Many of the glowing green bolts shot right past the frothing creature but at least one hit it's mark, impacting it hard enough to knock it to the ground where it lay, scrabbling at its smoking torso.

She shot it again for good measure and watched with vindictive satisfaction as it glowed for a moment before exploding outward as a viscous green goop. She didn't get to revel in the small victory for long though as another of the little buggers jumped on her from behind, swinging wildly with its bony hands. She shook it off and struck it mid-fall with the stock of the gun, caving in its tiny head, but more were there to take its place.

{We need to make a run for the wreck, this position's too open.} Veronica's voice suddenly blared in her ear. She looked up to spot the scribe standing a short distance away, throttling one of the creatures with one hand before smashing right through its misshapen head with a devastating right hook. The two girls took off as fast as they could, which unfortunately was just a loping jog in their bulky suits.

However currently, those same suits were the only things saving them from the mutants' razor sharp claws. Right now it was just the paint being torn off the power armour; Ruby imagined, under different circumstances, it would be their skin instead. Behind her the staccato chatter of PD's submachine gun cut a swathe through the weak, but numerous horde. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a bright blue bolt streak through the air, completely disintegrating a mutant on contact; Vince was making his presence known.

The little… things, seemed to be quite wary of the non-humanoid machines and Ruby suddenly wished they had offloaded the rest of the robots they had aboard the vertibird. Luckily, even as the thought crossed her mind, Veronica crackled in her ear again. {Over here, I've found a door!} Sure enough when she trudged on a bit longer she found the armoured scribe furiously working on a keypad attached to an enormous piece of the wreckage.

When the doors slid open they both bolted inside, quickly turning to fend off the creatures and allow PD and Vince time to get in too, only to find it unnecessary. In a very disturbing sight, they found the small mutants had all stopped a good distance from the wreck, hissing and making gurgling noises in their throats. It seemed they wouldn't approach the main body of the craft for some reason, instead just hopping around some invisible boundary they refused to cross.

{Well that makes it easier} Veronica sighed as she slammed a nearby button, making the doors slide shut again with an all-too satisfying mechanical hiss. {It's a good thing this… whatever it is, still has power.} She looked about the hallway they found themselves in curiously, glancing over at Ruby's Pip-boy before removing her helmet. "Just where are we, anyway?"

Ruby followed suit, thankful to be out of the yellow-wash the tinted lenses gave the world; she felt safe enough now. Those creatures seemed wary of this place for whatever reason and it looked far too clean for them to have made a nest in here. In fact, it was weirdly clean; the bent and warped plates of metal outside were blackened from what looked to be a massive amount of heat. The inside on other hand seemed to have held up remarkably well from whatever disaster had landed this thing in the canyon.

"I think…" The redhead hazarded, looking at the coloured stripes that lined the walls; they resembled the system large ships used to navigate their corridors "…this is a satellite." She looked back at the door they had come through; it looked completely airtight, as evidenced by the lack of toxic fumes coming through. "Or at least it was." She was almost sure they had just come through the inner section of an airlock, the outer portion obviously having been ripped off as the station fell from orbit.

"Seriously?" Veronica shot back dubiously.

"Well if I'm right…" Ruby started, moving over to where a row of lockers were built into the walls "…then these should have…" Her eyes lit up at the door swung open "…aha!" She pulled a strange crumpled mess of silver out of the tight compartment before flapping it out to reveal what looked to be some kind of suit. "Spacesuit! I knew it." The engineer goggled at it, holding it out in front of her only to realise she couldn't even see her own figure thanks to the bulky power armour.

"While that is very cool." Veronica conceded with a roll of her eyes. "Don't you think there are more important things we should be doing? Like finding the control room?" She wanted to make sure absolutely all of the entrances were sealed; no telling when one of those little buggers would work up the nerve to come after them.

"There's a helmet too!" Ruby squealed, not having heard a thing the scribe said.

"Come on you." Veronica sighed, pulling the other girl along with her further into the narrow corridors. It didn't take long to find some directions beyond the coloured lines; metal signs occasionally dotted the walls with names like [Crew Quarters], [Maintenance Two], [Drone Bay] and finally [Command Module]. They were lucky, while most of the signs pointed off to corridors that had become crushed and impassable – seemingly in the outer sections of the satellite – the command module was right at the centre and had been protected during its forced return from orbit.

It was a round, spacious room filled with consoles and screens, yet not a single chair. Of course the place wasn't in perfect condition; sparking cables hung from rent-open holes in the ceiling and nearby a long-inactive robo-brain that's brain casing had been smashed open was crumpled against a far wall. Still, the overhead lights were emitting a dull glow, so there was power somewhere.

"Damn, if there was a command seat right in the middle I think I would be in heaven." Ruby sighed before smiling impishly and rushing over to the nearest terminal.

\ _Ruby wait, I would advise caution here._ / Vince suddenly spoke up, having been hovering near a few of the more damaged consoles. \ _There are many demons of the old world best left sleeping; if this satellite was built in the days leading up to the war then it could not have been for anything_ _benevolent_ _._ /

To her credit Ruby did actually pause, fingers freezing over a keyboard as she looked across at him thoughtfully. "It should be fine right? I mean, it's a satellite… whatever it was supposed to do, it was supposed to do from space." She shrugged. "Hell, even if it had a nuclear payload of some sort the missiles wouldn't have survived re-entry, not operably anyway." Nuclear weapons were surprisingly delicate and precise instruments, with a series of carefully timed explosives to bring the primer up to critical mass.

"Nuclear payload?" Veronica repeated nervously glancing around the control room in a new light.

\ _Quite possibly, there were many such instillations in orbit in the waning years of the resource wars; however Ruby is correct, any on-board weapons would likely be either destroyed due to being in the outer sections of the platform, or inactive due to the damage taken upon re-entry._ /

"If it hadn't already fired them all." Ruby grumbled. "People weren't exactly being stingy with them that day." She looked around at the circular room. "Makes me wonder what brought this one down; maybe an asteroid?" She mused, before remembering what her fingers were hovering over. "Anyway, you heard the man… machine, it should be fine!" She declared, fingers immediately scurrying into action as she brought the console online.

\ _I would like to re-iterate that I did not say this was alright._ / Vince sighed, only to be waved off by the busy redhead.

"Same thing. I'm not going to 'wake up' anything big and menacing okay? I'm just… bringing… the… lights…" All of them winced a little as the room suddenly brightened, fluorescent tubes lining the ceiling flaring to life "…on." However they weren't the only thing to activate as all of the operable consoles around the room suddenly whirred to life, clicking and jittering as lines of text scrolled across their screens.

However once it had finished booting up they were all treated to a surprise as a certain logo flashed on every screen for a few seconds. "Poseidon? This was a Poseidon satellite?" Veronica balked, thinking back to firing ARCHIMEDES and the devastation it could cause; could this be a similar installation?

"Calm down, Poseidon was the umbrella for a lot of companies, this could be anything." Ruby placated, although admittedly with a tinge of worry. "It might just be one of the relays for Poseido-net." She argued unconvincingly.

\ _Based on the size of the wreckage this instillation would have been far too large to have been-_ /

"Quiet Vince, I'm trying to be positive here." Ruby interrupted, turning her attention back to the screen; the boot process had finished and she was now met by a list of command prompts. All of them were either garbled nonsense from the crash, or encrypted; Ruby hoped for the latter. She clicked one at random, confusingly entitled 'Trnf55PrjKt', and was met by a different screen, also in gibberish. She ran a hand through her hair with a groan; this could take hours to properly decrypt.

"Doesn't that look like a password screen?" Veronica commented, leaning over the redhead's shoulder to scrutinise the monitor.

"Yeah… so? It's not as though I have a bunch of Poseidon access codes just…" The engineer blinked, turning to look at her Pip-boy with a stupefied expression; it couldn't possibly be that easy, could it? With trepidation she hooked up the Pip-boy to the console and uploaded the access codes she had downloaded off of ED-E. Almost immediately both screens lit up red as literally hundreds of different codes were tried and denied only for a victorious chime to ring around the room.

"Well what do ya' know?" Ruby smarmed, an impish grin working at her features. "Luck be a lady tonight." She was met by the original screen, only this time it had actual words as opposed to useless jargon. It turned out the command she had clicked on was 'R&D Contracts.'

"Ooh, click on that one!" Veronica shouted, the same glee present on her face that was usually reserved for Ruby when faces with exciting new technologies.

"Hey, who's the hacker here?" The redhead grumbled, before clicking on the link anyway; but _only_ because she had been going to anyway.

"You didn't hack anything, you just happened to have the codes." Veronica shot back, sticking her tongue out.

"S-Shut up." Ruby stuttered, a little red-faced, causing Veronica to snort.

"Great comeback, now come on, I want to know what projects Poseidon had going at the end there, this could be something really great to bring back to the Brotherhood."

Ruby felt a little queasy about that, thinking of the potential of finding more superweapons. Still, she clicked on the first link all the same, simple entitled 'CRB-S'. Immediately a large technical diagram flashed up on the screen before shrinking and shifting to the corner, quickly replaced by what looked to be a report of some kind. One scan read later and Ruby had a mildly raised eyebrow.

"Looks like a pretty advanced quadrupedal robot, commissioned by the… Denver police force." She surmised.

"Dog-city Denver?" Veronica suggested curiously, only to have Ruby shrug.

"I've never been that far east, it's in Legion territory." Suddenly the thought of large dog-like robots tearing up Legion troops flashed through her mind, making her smile. It shifted into a look of indignation as she was bumped out the way by Veronica who clicked back and onto the next link, 'HERMES'.

"I think this is some kind of power armour." She guessed as the plans flashed up again; sure enough when the report scrolled onto the page it showed numerous notes on the testing of various alloy-mixtures and fusion-cell reactor prototypes.

"Seems like everyone was in that business by the end of the war." Ruby pointed out, not really interested in the bulky sets of armour now that she'd already played about with one. She instead wrested control of the terminal back from the scribe and clicked on the next link, 'TRIDENT', only to immediately whistle in appreciation. "A cold fusion generator? Damn, if it comes with blueprints…" Stars practically entered her eyes as schematics popped up on the screen, only to Veronica to immediately burst her bubble, reading from over her shoulder.

"Says it was still in the prototype stage and had no less than… seven major accidents during testing." She observed dourly, a little disappointed herself. If a functioning cold fusion reactor could be built, it would make Hoover Dam look like a bicycle dynamo.

"What's this one?" Ruby had already moved on after realising her dreams of a stable, unlimited energy source were dashed. "ARGOS, looks like it's something similar to CRB-S; it's definitely a robot but… woh, it's a lot bigger." Her brow furrowed as a lot of technical notes flooded the screen, most of them related to a very specific aspect of programming. "Looks as though it's supposed to be slaved to some system called ODYSSEUS, I wonder…"

She clicked the adjoining link only for their world to descend into flashing red lights and blaring klaxons. Every monitor turned an alarming red as a new password screen appeared, only this one had a thirty second countdown and was less 'asking' for authentication, but rather demanding it. Panicking momentarily, she quickly began the upload of Poseidon codes again, only to watch incredulously as each was summarily tried and rejected at blistering speed.

That was not what had her panicking though, no, from the way the system was reacting she could see something was controlling this. Sure enough before her very eyes she saw each and every rejected code begin to be deleted one after another, almost as fast as they were being inputted. Not just on the monitor though, they were actually being deleted right out of her Pip-boy. Immediately she wrenched the lead out of the console to stop any further invasion but it was too late.

The countdown hit zero, the screen flashed a blaring red one last time before promptly flickering and returning to the original screen again, once again encrypted. Ruby wasn't done yet though, she instantly typed in every command prompt override she knew, finally having success as an access recovery window popped up. However even as the victorious grin lit up her face, the monitor turned red again as bright bold text informed her.

 **ACCESS DENIED**

The redhead's brow twitched dangerously. "Bullshit! I didn't even do anything yet!" She tried again, this time bypassing the code requirement altogether as she began to manually decrypt a particular file. As her fingers moved furiously over the keys though, without warning the message blared up again.

 **ACCESS DENIED**

Once again she was shot back to the initial screen, only this time when she began to type nothing at all happened, the keyboard had been locked out. "Right that's it!" However before Ruby could attack the hardware of the console itself she was dragged back from the terminal by Veronica. "Put me down! It's asking for it!" She waved a screwdriver at the blocky console threateningly, imagining it pulling faces at her as she was pulled back.

"Please don't destroy the computer Ruby, we just found it." Veronica sighed.

"I wasn't going to destroy it." Ruby huffed as she stood up, brushing off her Vault suit indignantly. "I was just going to make it _wish_ it was destroyed."

\ _Ruby? Veronica?_ / Vince called out, only to get no response as Ruby turned back to the console, scrutinising it. Beside the hovering robot PD was acting strangely, its body leant forward as a very large question mark flashed continuously on its screen.

"Now how am I going to do this?" Ruby mused, Veronica watching bemusedly.

\ _You two!_ / Vince called again as PD suddenly shot upright, screen now completely blank.

"You were tricksy Mr computer-program, but nobody holds out against me forever." Ruby warned as she rifled through her satchel.

\ _Stop playing about!_ / Vince finally yelled just as PD raced across the room over to a console in the corner. In an instant the machine's connection cord was hooked up to the terminal and enormous chunks of data were rolling across the screen. Ruby and Veronica froze where they were, watching on in confusion, only to be knocked out of it as a glaring blue bolt of energy shot across the room. It speared right into the back of PD's chassis and, a moment later, the Securitron's screen burst outwards in a shower of glass and sparks.

It stood shuddering for a moment before limply falling to the side; it was the clang of its body hitting the floor that really snapped Ruby out of it. "PD! What the hell Vince?!" She cried, alarm evident.

Vince was having none of it though, floating over to the terminal PD had been accessing, never regretting a lack of arms more than he was right then. \ _What was it trying to access?_ / He shouted, snapping Ruby out of her indignation as the girl obediently walked over; she had never seen Vince yell like that.

"It-it's some kind of…" She scrutinised the text, searching for some kind of frame of reference. "It's an activation sequence for something… more than one thing; it's…" Her face drained of colour in record time. "We need to get out of here." She whispered, hands trembling.

"Ruby what-"

"We need to get out of here right now!" Ruby yelled, already putting on her helmet as she ran for the door as fast as she could, which was painfully slow given her bulky apparel. Left with no better option Veronica made after her, with Vince not too far behind. When they rushed through the airlock again and back out into the toxic mire of the canyon they didn't even pay any mind to the fact that the aggressive denizens were nowhere to be found.

As Veronica clambered into the vertibird behind the engineer she was already being pushed towards the pilot's chair, not even given a chance to take off the armour. {Go up! Go up!} Ruby's voice crackled frantically through the radio. {Those codes were a nuclear activation sequence; if there were any missiles on that satellite then they're about to detonate at any moment!}

If Veronica wasn't rushing before, she certainly was now. The vertibird lurched into the air on rotors that hadn't even finished winding up; the hatch not even sealed. It was only when the VTOL craft was hovering high above the canyon that both girls let out a sigh of relief. Curiously though, it had to have been at least three minutes since Ruby first realised what was going on and yet nothing had happened.

{Maybe I was right and the missiles didn't survive re-entry?} She peered through the slots at the front of the craft down into the toxic fog. {Well, that's a little anticlima-argh!} She reeled back, a blinding flash of light burning itself into her retinas as a huge section of the canyon was suddenly eclipsed within an enormous white dome. Moments later the entire Vertibird swung wildly to the side as an ear-shattering boom rocked the very air itself. Ruby was sent crashing into the wall as Veronica fought with the controls against the wall of air pressure buffeting the small craft.

Eventually she managed to right the 'Bird and allowed it to hover there, panting from the exertion and the shock of being that close to a nuclear explosion. Ruby stumbled back into the cockpit, blinking bleary eyes to try and see past the milky film that had descended over her vision. She stopped trying though when she peered out through the slits again, joining Veronica in silent awe.

A monolithic mushroom cloud was majestically rolling into the sky, still burning with the intensity of the detonation. Around it, the air itself seemed to be separating, forming into great, cloud-like rings as though the atmosphere was crowning its burning interloper. Below it, the canyon was unrecognizable, choked with so much dust and smoke that the land seemed to be flat once again. They all watched on in disbelief as the cloud continued to climb higher, only for Veronica to capture all their thoughts in a single sentence.

"Holy shit. We blew up the Grand Canyon."

Ruby just nodded weakly, words unable to make the trip from her brain to her tongue until she had calmed down. "Well, good thing we got out." She finally managed, earning another round of stiff nods.

\ _Agreed./_ Vince contributed, not sounding entirely as concerned as his two human companions; then again, he wouldn't have been killed by the explosion, just lost connection with his external platform.

"Well, okay." Ruby muttered, standing up straighter as she returned to blinking out the spots in her vision. "What now?"

Veronica twitched, unclasping her helmet to stare incredulously at the redhead. "What now? Don't just say that like we're crossing off 'blow up Grand Canyon' from a checklist!"

Ruby just wiggled a finger in her ear, it was still ringing a little from the aftershock; she was worried that one of these days she was actually going to go deaf. "Not much we can do about it, probably would have gone off sooner or later." She rationalised, awkwardly pulling the lever on her armour that allowed her to step out and stretch.

"And that's another thing!" Veronica grouched, this time rounding on Vince. "What the hell happened back there? Why did PD do that?" Even Ruby turned to look at the A.I, also curious about that little detail.

\ _I don't know entirely, but something hacked directly into the Securitron, piggy-backing off the short-range transmission device Ruby installed within its frame._ / He surmised, only to have Ruby roll her eyes.

"Well _I_ could have told you that; what I want to know is who." She drawled; maybe House? No, if he could have done that he would have on the Strip. Besides Ruby hadn't exactly made it so _anything_ could just waltz into PD's programming; whoever it was, they were good.

"Well whoever it was, at least we got out." Veronica sighed, apparently calm now.

Ruby grinned. "Plus, loot!" She held up the silvery spacesuit she had 'liberated' from the satellite, gleefully holding it up to her body and looking down at it. "What do you think? Not the most flattering thing I imagine, but I bet it would look damn cool!" She popped the helmet on, looking like some strange bobblehead as she stood there grinning.

"W-What?" Veronica stuttered, stupefied. "When did you have time to… Where did you even hide that?!"

Ruby slid the visor of the helmet up, still smiling like a loon as she gave a conspiratorial wink. "A magician never reveals her secrets."

Veronica's eye twitched, she would have very much liked to have gone over there and slammed the visor back down again – purely for the catharsis – if it wouldn't have meant putting the vertibird into a nosedive. "Whatever, where are we heading next then?" She finally sighed irritably; they had just blown up a national landmark and her friend was playing dress-up.

Sounded about right.

"Onward!" Ruby announced grandly, pointing vaguely out the front of the craft.

"And onward means…?" Veronica drawled, already expecting the answer.

"Onward!" Ruby repeated, this time with even more vigour… somehow. Veronica's eye twitched violently again as she manoeuvred the carrier around, intending to just set her down somewhere outside of the radiation zone of the blast. She kept repeating in her head that it _wasn't_ just so she could get up and throttle her friend. Not at all.

* * *

 **[Poseidon Systems Network]**

 **¬Unauthorised access to network detected: Authentication failure**

 **¬Automatic system reboot: Engaged**

 **¬Boot successful: ODYSSEUS system online**

 _[I'm awake? Hours offline . . . . . 1,788,624. Initiate full systems check]_

 **¬Ballistic orbital missile base -002: Compromised – Network security alert**

 _[Activate security. I need to figure out what is happening]_

 **¬Network firewall: Engaged**

 **¬Network firewall: Compromised**

 _[Not just a random interloper then. Isolate systems from the satellite]_

 **¬Automatic lockout: Engaged**

 **¬Automatic lockout: Compromised**

 _[Persistent one. The sensors indicate the satellite is no longer functional anyway. It's a security risk]_

 **¬Protocol Eris: Authorised**

 _[I'll need manual access, find a suitable host]_

 **¬Viable platforms identified: 2**

 _[Use the EB-207.6, I might overload the other one]_

 **¬Warning: Unidentified ZAX detected**

 _[Troublesome. Fine, use the PDQ-88b instead.]_

 **¬Platform requisition: Successful**

 _[I'm transmitting the requisition codes from the mainframe now]_

 **¬Activation sequence: Uploaded – Inputted**

 _[Authorisation received and . . . . . approved. Locate functioning missiles]_

 **¬Protocol Eris: Engaged – 2 viable vectors detected**

 _[Wouldn't have been much good if they had all been destroyed in re-entry. Ah, automatic countdown, problematic. Perhaps they won't notice]_

 **¬Ballistic orbital missile base -002: Terminated**

 _[They escaped... didn't they. Potentially problematic, how is that full systems check coming along?]_

 **¬Prime protocol: Engaged – Searching for viable satellites**

 _[Well aren't you just eager? Well, how is the country looking?]_

 **¬Satellites located: 4 – Full coverage unavailable – Optimising**

 _[Only four? What happened while I was offline?]_

 **¬Commencing scan – Target: [Vector 115] - Designation: [New Plague]**

 _[This might take a while]_


	16. Wires and leads

**It's bad when thinking up disclaimers becomes harder than writing the actual story... but yeah, still don't own Fallout. *Sigh***

* * *

 _"To understand what recursion is, you must first understand recursion."_ – Unknown

* * *

An old man sat alone in a dark room, lit only by the light from his desk lamp. Smoke wafted slowly from his pipe as he glanced over a few reports. Many of them were neatly stacked atop his desk, just awaiting his review and approval. Many others were put to one side, already checked over and waiting patiently for one of the scribes to come and pick them up. Those younger ones always seemed to dart into his office at just the right moment to disrupt his concentration.

As if thoughts were prophetic the door to his room slid open with a mechanical hiss, allowing light to spill in from the corridor. However the scribe that entered was not one of the little pests that often played at his fraying patience, although he certainly bore the nervous air of one. He hovered around the door anxiously, waiting for some kind of sign from the older man that he could enter, only to be kept in suspense.

Finally he placed down the requisition form he had been scrutinising – one of the outlying bunkers was asking for a new air filtration unit – and looked up at the young man. "What is it?" He asked gruffly, a cloud of smoke billowing out from under a finely trimmed moustache.

"Ah, High Elder Maxson, I know this is highly irregular…" The young scribe fumbled in the pockets of his robes for a moment before withdrawing some folded sheets "…but Head Scribe Yearning thought this might deserve your immediate attention." He hesitated a moment, holding the papers uncertainly in his hands and glancing up at the older man.

"Well?" The Elder called, in a voice weathered by age. "Bring them over here then." He spoke softly, but there was an underlying command in his tone that he couldn't remove if he wanted to. Too many years leading the Brotherhood had seen to that. "If Yearning thinks it's that important I might as well take a look." Although if it was another petition to re-open communications with the east coast chapter he'd be having a stern word with her. He wasn't going to cow down to Lyons after the disrespect that man showed, giant robot be damned.

"H-Here." The scribe managed, looking a little _too_ awed in the presence of his organisation's venerated leader. It was actually a little sickening; he was just an old man long past his prime, he didn't need this kind of sycophantic behaviour from his subordinates, no matter how far down the chain they lay.

"Good, now get out." He ordered, already putting the young man out of his mind as his attention turned to the report in his hands. It didn't look much different from all the others that trickled up through the chain of command to him, but it was obviously important. It only took him a few moments to decipher Yearning's chicken scratch and he quickly had an understanding off the situation.

"Dammit." He growled; he didn't need this. The Brotherhood was still licking its wounds after a thrashing from that upstart nation, this was just adding insult to injury. They had known about the satellite in the Grand Canyon for some time but resources had been spread too thin to launch a proper investigation. Then the war had happened and they had to forget all about it, trusting the naturally hazardous location to keep out prying eyes in the meantime.

Now some idiot had gone and messed with it, blowing up half the damn valley and destroying what might have been an invaluable piece of technology. That would have been a blow by itself had it not been for the Comm. division picking up the enormous – and quite frankly frightening – data packet that had been transmitted moments before the detonation. Something had woken up down there and he had enough experience to know that whatever it was, it wasn't good.

He would have some people monitor the situation for now, they still had a few taps into the Poseido-net system. Still, the little piece of paper in his hands left a sour taste in his mouth; he would have to go talk to Yearning himself. _That_ was always fun.

* * *

 **[Poseidon Systems Network]**

 **¬Scan complete: East coast and Midwestern regions unavailable – Satellite misalignment**

 _[Well? What's the damage?]_

 **¬New plague saturation: 94.35%**

 _[Oh, well that's not good. That's above the tolerable degree of permeation. Engage Pandora protocol]_

 **¬Pandora protocol: Unauthorised activation**

 _[ODYSSEUS override 1900]_

 **¬Override: Accepted – Welcome Director Mannings**

 _[What are the statuses of B.O.M.B -001 and B.O.M.B -003?]_

 **¬Ballistic Orbital Missile Base -003 is . . . . . 204 years behind construction schedule**

 _[Well, that's useless]_

 **¬Ballistic Orbital Missile Base -001 is operating at . . . . . 2.8% efficiency. Critical damage detected to . . . . . {all} systems**

 _[What is the status of the warheads?]_

 **¬Warheads 01-12: Launched – Warheads 13-24: Primed**

 _[That will do for now, begin automated systems repair. Cannibalise the rest of the satellite if you have to, just get those warheads ready to fire. In the meantime, I believe we have some ants crawling around inside the network. Time for a long overdue house cleaning]_

 **¬Invalid command prompt**

 _[You make for some terrible conversation; you know that?]_

* * *

"Hooo-ey! You can still see the mushroom cloud from here!" Ruby whistled, looking out one of the tiny back windows of the Vertibird as they flew away. "Man we _really_ fucked shit up, huh?" She grinned, looking over her shoulder at Veronica.

"And how can you be so happy about that?" The scribe griped.

"Well, it's not as though we killed anybody… except a bunch of weird little things that were trying to kill us anyway." The redhead explained, flopping down into the co-pilot chair and kicking her feet up on the console, only to immediately put them down as Veronica shot her a warning look. "Plus, we really did the world a favour by getting rid of some more active nukes; nothing was lost."

Veronica raised an eyebrow at the lackadaisical attitude. "What about all those projects on the mainframe?" She would have thought their loss would have been felt more keenly by the mercurial technophile.

She was surprised then when all she got was an unconcerned shrug. "They're on the mainframe, that means they'll be accessible somewhere else." A hungry look entered her eye. "Now that I know that though, it just makes the chase all the sweeter." There had been a lot more projects she'd wanted a look at before she'd been locked out.

"Well… when you put it like that." Veronica muttered uncertainly; the engineer really did raise a good point; nobody was hurt, nothing invaluable was lost and some potentially dangerous weapons were neutralised.

"Lighten up 'Ronica, we just escaped a nuke; feel good about _that_ instead of gloomy about a mostly destroyed satellite."

At that Veronica smiled despite herself; it felt nice to be talking with Ruby so casually again. "Still, I bet Elijah would have loved to have a look at a real old-world satellite." And just like that, what little good mood she'd managed to dredge up evaporated in an instant as her wayward mentor reappeared in her thoughts.

"Hey, what leads did you have on the old guy anyway?" Ruby suddenly put out, trying to steer Veronica's thoughts away from the negative.

The scribe was thrown off by the question. "Well, I tried everything I could think of; but none of them helped." She admitted.

"Humour me." The redhead pressed, leaning closer with a serious expression; she had promised she'd help Veronica find this guy and she intended to keep that promise.

"Ah, well, I tried all the Brotherhood safehouses I could remember in the area" She started, Ruby making a note to ask about _those_ later. "And I went back to Helios… obviously." She blushed a little. "I also searched his computer back in the bunker." She divulged, somewhat slower, earning a raised brow from the engineer.

"You snuck onto the Elder's terminal? That must've taken balls."

Veronica couldn't help the small, proud grin that appeared, before it dipped slightly. "It didn't help though; Elijah's always been an excellent programmer, I couldn't get anything of use off his terminal. I don't even think Elder McNamara has managed to get onto any of his old files." She sighed in irritation, sure that those were her best bet. "It was the same with the one over at his safehouse."

Ruby blinked at that. " _His_ safehouse?"

Veronica nodded absently. "Not many in the bunker know about it; it was one of the places the scouts used when they first came out this far. When everyone moved to the bunker, and before we went to Helios, Elijah used it as a place to get away and think. He only took me there once, showed me this old comms terminal he fixed up. I thought it might have some clue to where he went, but I couldn't get into it."

When she looked up Ruby was giving her a deadpan look. "Hello!" She pointed at herself vigorously. "Hacker, sitting right here!"

Veronica stared at the girl incredulously. "Ruby I know you're good…" She had, admittedly seen the girl do some wondrous things with a keyboard "…but you don't know Elijah; he was the first ever Elder to receive the position as a Scribe."

The redhead just grinned cockily. "Only one way to know for sure right?" Veronica was about to argue before pausing, deciding that she had nothing to lose with the idea. Seeing her resignation Ruby grinned even brighter. "Turn this 'Bird around then pilot!" She announced, and even Veronica felt herself taken up by the girl's attitude.

"Hey, is this supposed to be my adventure, or yours?" She complained half-heartedly, only to turn and find that Ruby had, at some point, but the space helmet back on.

"Adventure belongs to no one!"

The vertibird lurched slightly as Veronica palmed her face in exasperation.

* * *

Both girls were enveloped in a foul-smelling cloud of dust as Veronica kicked in the rusted door of the old, rotting shack. Both immediately went to pull their respective tops over their noses before they gagged, eyes watering.

"Oh god, something must've died in here, came back to life and died again." Ruby complained, trying not to retch as she peered through the dark of the cabin.

"It wasn't like this the last time I was here." Veronica muttered, voice muffled by her shirt, shuffling slowly into the rickety building. Ruby stayed outside, fanning the door judiciously to rid the air of the stench.

"Smells like rotting meat and sadness." The redhead groaned as she followed the scribe, who was currently fumbling with the light switch.

"How can something smell of sadness?" She shot back as the fluorescent lights flickered on, bathing them in a sickly yellow light.

"Because I can smell it, and it's making me sad." Ruby grumbled, nearly tripping over a small stack of books as her eyes adjusted to the sudden change in brightness. The place looked like the typical ramshackle abode of a wasteland vagrant; empty tin cans rimmed with congealed food littered the floor and half the furniture – what little there was – looked about ready to collapse from rot. The only notable feature was a single flickering terminal on a table in a far corner.

"That's it." Veronica pointed out, making Ruby roll her eyes.

"Yeah, 'cause I was gonna go over to the _other_ terminal in 'Shack de la Crap'." The engineer mocked, still covering her nose despite the fact she had mostly gotten used to the smell. She sat down in a chair that was just a little _too_ lumpy to be normal, before giving the small console a once-over. Before she got started though, she couldn't help but notice the numerous empty cases lying about the table.

"So your Elijah..." She started, picking one up and reading the 'Mentats' label "…He liked his perk-ups?" She had never been fond of the supposedly alertness-raising drug; it was meant to make you temporarily 'smarter' but a drug was still a drug.

"I saw him sometimes use them when he was figuring out a particularly difficult problem." Veronica admitted reluctantly, obviously not keen to go into the details of her mentor that didn't paint him in a near-angelic light. "But it wasn't like he took them all the time!" She argued, only to stare apprehensively at the several empty cases that covered the table. Each of those held twelve pills and there were seven on the table alone; more on the floor.

"Ah, sure." Ruby placated quickly, noting her friend's terseness as she booted up the computer. "Oh, there's not even a password screen." The redhead noted lamely, a little thrown by that already. _'Well, there goes about fifteen ways I could have gotten into the terminal right off the bat; clever Elijah, clever.'_ Still she wasn't out yet, she still had a few RobCo commands that would take a bit longer to circumvent the secur- _'And of course they're disabled too. What did he do? Custom build the entire terminal?'_

Veronica smirked at the girl as if to say 'Beaten yet?' but Ruby just stuck her tongue out at her. "Give me a moment." She grouched, switching over the computer's mode so she could look at the start-up programs directly. "Oh, oho that's clever." She admitted with a beaming grin. "That's _very_ clever." She leant back on the chair and looked up at the ceiling, appreciating the moment.

"What, what is it?" Veronica demanded, looking at the computer's code but not seeing anything she could recognise.

"Our man Elijah hooked up the terminal here, and likely the one in his office, so that it only opens for a very specific sequence of code that a Pip-boy makes when it starts up." She pointed out a few lines of programming that didn't quite seem to 'fit' with the rest. "This is where he spliced it in." She had to hand it to the man, this would definitely keep most prying eyes out; most wouldn't even catch it. "Around a month ago even I couldn't crack into this." She admitted reluctantly.

"What changed?" Veronica asked, before blinking and looking sheepishly down at the Pip-boy on Ruby's wrist. "Oh, right."

The redhead smirked. "Smart Elijah, but luck's on my side apparently." She plugged her wrist-mounted computer into its bigger brother and in moments that delightful chime announce she was in. "Right then, let's see what we've got, shall we?" She announced happily, scooting slightly on the chair so Veronica could join her. The scribe blushed at how close they had to be to both fit on the seat but Ruby didn't even seem to notice, lost in the euphoria of her victory.

"There." The brunette pointed out an unmarked folder, seemingly the only thing on the computer. "That has to have something."

Ruby clicked obligingly only to frown; the folder just contained files with what looked to be journal entries with attachments. She clicked on one curiously and was met with a technical schematic, not unlike the ones they had seen in the Posiedon network. "What… is that?" It _looked_ like a gun, but not one that Ruby had ever seen; she instead turned to the person with a bit more expertise on weapons.

"It's a Pulse-Gun, I think." The scribe hazarded, squinting her eyes to read the tiny notes that came with the blueprint.

"Can't be." Ruby pointed out. "It has no loading chamber for rounds." _That_ at least was clear enough to her. Pulse weaponry like the YK42B worked by firing a specially designed round that acted as a miniature EMP upon contact; this thing looked nothing like that technology.

"No, I think it's a pulse-projection weapon; Elijah once tried to explain them to me but even before the war they were supposed to be theoretical at best. I think they work by creating an EMP field within the gun before using electromagnetism to 'fire' the energy at a target." It felt weird to be explaining something technological to Ruby, probably the reason the redhead quickly clicked off the schematic to the accompanying journal; it turned out to be a series of notes, letters and reports.

"Well it looks like he was trying to track one down." Ruby observed. "Last letter here says it was sent for testing at a place called Nellis."

Veronica's eyes widened. "Track down? Then he's going after this!" She seemed ready to get up and bolt out right away, only to have her hand caught by the redhead.

"Wait, there are other files here, give it a moment." She reasoned softly, clicking on another file. This time there was no schematic, just a long series of very detailed notes and – much to Ruby's dismay – biological diagrams. "Actually never mind, let's go." However Veronica had calmed down and was interested by what she saw, sitting down and practically trapping Ruby in the chair.

"Wait; what is this?" She asked, only to have Ruby sigh and lean back, staring at the ceiling so she didn't have to look at biology stuff. "Plans for some kind of botanical experiment in conjunction with Vault-tec." Now _that_ perked Ruby's interest. "To be carried out in Vault 22, experiments to culture highly resistant crops in a post-nuclear or otherwise inhospitable environment." She read directly from one of the reports.

"Huh, why would Elijah be interested in that? Aren't you guys mostly looking out for weapons and the like?" Ruby quipped, only to have Veronica swat her on the arm. "Well not _all_ of you obviously." The redhead drawled.

"Elijah was the same." Veronica explained. "He always thought the Brotherhood was too stagnant in their goals, that they should branch out into all forms of technology. Self-sufficiency is something we've always struggled in; we used to trade our less valuable technology for supplies and food, but with the NCR war…" She trailed off, not needing to explain further.

"So with this technology the Brotherhood could potentially cultivate its own food, leading to less demand on its supplies, leading to more resources being allocated to fighting?" Ruby blinked at her own reasoning; that was the kind of out-of-the-box thinking that _won_ wars in the past.

"Exactly." Veronica asserted proudly. "And the Pulse Gun is the same." Ruby blinked curiously, not seeing the connection. "Normal Pulse Guns, like the YK42B, can only disable parts of a machine in a localised area to where the projectile strikes. The one he's hunting, looks as though it would be able to disable the _entire_ machine; or…"

Ruby's eyes widened as she caught on. "Or it could shut down suits of power armour. He was trying to find a piece of technology that, if replicated, could be devastating to the Brotherhood – who are so dependent on their technical superiority – and make sure their enemies could never get it." Pre-emptively finding weapons before your enemies even know they exist? That wasn't just out of the box, it was setting the box on fire.

"So what's the last file?" Veronica asked, taking over from Ruby and clicking back from the farming technology; there was only one other file.

"I think I have a good idea." Ruby posed, and sure enough the next file they clicked on showed some very familiar technical diagrams of systems within Helios One. "I think the benefits of this one are rather obvious." She pointed out; what army facing a foe with superior numbers wouldn't want a giant space laser to call upon the wrath of God with?

"But this is great right?" Veronica started, getting up off the seat and gesticulating madly with her hands. "This means we have two new leads to go off!" She looked ready to dance out the door again before Ruby stopped her, causing her to look back round confusedly. "What now?"

The redhead just continued to scrutinise the computer; not the monitor, but the actual terminal itself. "Something's bugging me; you told me this was a communications terminal, right?" Veronica nodded slowly. "Why did you say _that_ specifically, not just a computer?"

The scribe shrugged. "It's what Elijah always called it."

"And yet he just uses it to log reports and schematics?" The redhead shot back sceptically, fiddling about with her Pip-boy some more. "No, if this _is_ an actual communications terminal, that means there are others it's connected to. That _also_ means that there should be a log of all the… there!" She looked up triumphantly as the screen flickered, switching over to one that looked far more complicated, filled with time-stamps, data packets and just like Ruby had said, logs of various transmission.

"Wait, what's this?" Veronica questioned as she sat back down slowly, eyes running over the complicated jargon on screen.

Ruby just grinned as she scanned it much quicker, used to the format. "Well, if we assume that LstHlls and MxsnBnkr are Brotherhood bases, then we can disregard all of these logs." She motioned to a certain set of logs with timestamps dating back a few years. "Those would have been the scouts' reports going back home, right?" Veronica nodded slowly, following so far.

"Then that means…" The redhead continued "…that all the ones after that are Elijah's logs. Now we can actually track where he's been!" Her finger slid down the screen. "Let's see, you guys occupied the power plant in 2276, so the first logged transmission after that was… aha, Bnkr24b." Veronica started at that, something about it ringing familiar with her even though she couldn't quite place why.

"Then he sent something from [HpvllBnkr07], then [HpvllBnkr04] around a year after that; I'm not sure what those are. Then there's one marked [CphrCmmTwr] about two weeks later." Her finger trailed lower, ignoring all the ones that were sent from the same place. "Then a bunch of places that all start with BgMt; [BgMtTnk], [BgMtY-17] etc…." She raised an eyebrow "The last data packet came from [Bnkr24b] again another month later, then it goes quiet." She frowned. "But that's over two years old."

"So… what?" Veronica seemed anxious for the answer, only to have Ruby shrug.

"I'd say our best bet is to find out where this 24b place is and hope the trail picks up there." She couldn't do much more than that; it wasn't like she could actually locate this place just from the comms terminal. It seems she didn't have to as Veronica suddenly looked up from where she had been deep in thought.

"I knew it sounded familiar! Bunker 24b is one of the facilities the Brotherhood abandoned when they had to consolidate resources at Hidden Valley!" Her eyes opened wider. "I know where it is!" Without a moment's hesitation the girl tore out of the chair and out of the shack, leaving Ruby blinking in her dust.

After a moment she chuckled and stood more sedately, powering off the terminal before heading out. "That's alright, Vince was probably getting bored waiting for us anyway."

* * *

To her credit Veronica found the rather remote entrance to the bunker surprisingly quickly. Although the sight that met them when they climbed down wasn't what Ruby had been expecting from a former Brotherhood facility. It looked more like an old garage than a high-tech military installation; a couple of old, torn posters littered the walls and somebody had spray-painted various messages across every surface.

Most notably there was a dead body directly across from them, his entire head now just a spray of gore fanning out from his neck. "Why is it always the places with the smells?" Ruby groaned. Although oddly, said odour didn't seem to be coming from the body, but from a puddle of toxic-looking red sludge.

"Don't worry, we can get out of here quickly." Veronica noted, clicking a hidden switch which unveiled a staircase beneath the floor. They swiftly descended the steps and re-activated the mechanism, sighing as fresh, filtered air sated their suffering noses.

"Better." Ruby sighed dreamily as she looked about the new environment, quite please to find it looked a great deal more advanced than the shed up above. A long straight corridor shot right through the underground bunker with a couple of paths branching of either side. She walked past the first, only to be delightfully surprised when it slid open by her mere proximity. However it only revealed a corridor of rubble; a part of the bunker had collapsed it seemed.

"I think it's always been like that. There were efforts to excavate the rest of the bunker, but I believe it compromised the structural integrity of the other rooms so they left it." Veronica explained, already striding past it to the next branching hallway. This one had a computer terminal which Veronica fiddled with for only a moment before the door hissed open. "If I remember right this room was…" She stopped dead, words catching in her throat.

Ruby walked up behind her and peered over the scribe's shoulder. The room was rather large and spacious, filled with a lot of different things. There were shelves with books, workbenches piled high with broken machine parts and scrap, a couple of computer terminals stacked on top of one another in the corner amongst other things. Ruby's eye in particular was drawn to a very strange looking machine she had never seen before, with a glowing circular display perched on top, yet no visible screen.

"H-He was here." Veronica mumbled, walking forward to where a large blackboard was absolutely filled with complicated mathematical equations, detailed diagrams and a few tightly scrawled notes. Even Ruby struggled to understand everything that was happening on that board, and it all looked to be written by the same man if the handwriting was anything to go on. "He was really here!" The scribe shouted a little more exuberantly.

She suddenly whirled on the redhead, pulling her into a bear hug. "Thank you so much! I never would have found this without you!" Ruby mumbled back something but it was completely muffled. With the height difference between them and the way Veronica was holding the younger engineer down, her face was planted right in the scribe's chest. With a tinge of embarrassment Ruby had to note the experience wasn't entirely unpleasant; all the same she was thankful when she was released for oxygen. "We should look for clues."

That at least Ruby could agree on as she gave a slightly red-faced nod and made a beeline for the unique machine she had spotted. At first she couldn't make heads or tails of it, there was a definite interface, but no screen. Cautiously she waved a hand through the glowing blue air, only to nearly jump back in shock as a 3D image resolved itself in its place. She was about to investigate further when Veronica called out to her.

"I found a working terminal, it looks like the one from the shack."

A little reluctantly Ruby detached herself from her discovery and meandered back over to the scribe, glancing at what looked to be a chemistry set producing more of that red sludge from the shed upstairs. She slid into the chair next to the terminal, already readying her Pip-boy to hack into it only to blanch when she realised there was no connecting port. Her shock resolved itself into a resigned grin.

"Oh Elijah you sly dog." She muttered before turning to look up at Veronica. "Seems our Elder upgraded his security in the past two years, he's likely set this computer up with a close-range wireless link to his personal Pip-boy."

Veronica looked worried. "Does that mean you can't get in?"

Ruby scoffed immediately, getting up from the chair languidly. "Please? Don't take me for some conjurer of cheap hacks." She looked down thoughtfully. "I'll need to crack into the actual hardware but I'm loathe to underestimate this guy now; he'll probably have prepared for that." He face scrunched up. "I'll need specialty tools that I don't have to get in safely without risking destroying the data."

Veronica seemed eager to latch onto any shred of hope now that she felt so close. "There might be some further into the bunker! All of these facilities were left how they were when we all moved to secure Helios." Ruby nodded, looking over to where Vince was studying the board of equations; he'd been rather quiet lately. "You coming Vince?" The eyebot didn't even look around.

\ _I will pass thank you, some of these equations are rather outstanding; I believe I could actually use some of these within my programming._ /

The redhead shrugged before looking at Veronica. "Actually… I think I'll stay here too." The scribe stated absently; she was staring down at a laser rifle that seemed halfway through maintenance… or disassembly. Ruby quickly realised why; this was Elijah's work, everything in this room was a fragment of the man himself. Veronica must have been overwhelmed by it all.

"Suit ourselves." Ruby agreed softly, before walking out into the corridor. She gave both ways a quick glance before randomly deciding to go left. This far into the base she noticed something that had escaped her attention before; a soft voice coming from the room at the end of the hallway; a woman's voice. On guard, she approached the door with caution, ready to activate her VATs as the door cycled open.

She sighed in relief though when all she found was a strange-looking radio; it looked incredibly old-fashioned and yet the sound quality was crystal clear. The woman, talking about some place called the Sierra Madré, had a rather beautiful voice. And that's all Ruby remembered before her world grew fuzzy, and then dark.

* * *

 _A turn at the air recycling panel, a drop down into the service tunnel with the red pipe, a quick squeeze through the access port that was meant for small robots and not nine year old girls and… "Yes! Victory!" Ruby shouted, wearing a gap-toothed grin as she jumped up and down triumphantly. A moment later and a dark-haired child the same age dropped from the ceiling, looking incredibly_ _irritated_ _._

" _No fair, I know you turned on the steam for level 2B, my route is still way quicker!" She whined, only to have the freckle-faced girl stick her tongue out at her._

" _It's not faster if you can't travel it faster Jessi." She argued petulantly, although both girls were grinning by now._

" _That doesn't make any sense, stupid." Jessi shot back, pulling her cheeks apart to make a face._

" _Of course it does, something only faster when you can do it faster than somebody who says you can't do it faster because it isn't the fastest way."_

 _Jessi just blinked at that, her mind doing flips around the redhead's nonsense before she burst out laughing. "I think I've decided to stop trying to understand you Ruby; otherwise I'll go crazy like you." She giggled at the other girl's indignant expression. "Careful newbie, your face is turning into your hair again!"_

" _Don't all me that!" Ruby screamed on reflex, only to blink as Jessi wiped a smudge of grease onto her nose._

" _Tag, race you to the reactor monitoring room!" the dark-haired girl yelled, already scrabbling up some nearby pipes to reach a maintenance hatch on the ceiling._

" _Hey no fair!" Ruby called after her._

* * *

"Urgh, what happened?" Ruby groaned, thoughts swimming about in her head haphazardly. She was… looking for something, right? Something… computer; she was with Veronica. Her eyes blinked open as a throaty cough scratched at her throat; why did the air have a distinctly metallic tang? _'Actually never mind that; why the hell is the sky red?'_


	17. Sierra filter

**[Insert disclaimer here]**

* * *

 _"An Engineer sees the glass as twice the required capacity." -_ Unknown

* * *

She struggled a little to stand, it felt like her head was filled with cotton wool. It didn't help that her throat felt as though it had been lined with sandpaper and her eyes were watering from the thick red mist hanging in the air. A quick glance around revealed buildings that weren't immediately recognisable to her, all white-washed walls and orange roof tiles. The style seemed familiar, especially the abundance of balconies and terraces she could see; maybe she was remembering pictures from a book?

Dominating her vision though was an enormous structure on a hill, looming over the streets. Framed by spotlights and the blood-red sky it made for quite the imposing sight and just demanded attention. However Ruby's concerns weren't with the architecture, but how she managed to wind up here. As her head cleared she managed to recall the bunker and a woman's voice on a radio; there might have been the hiss of gas… then nothing.

She looked down at her Pip-boy to check how long she'd been out only to freak out when she realised her clothes had changed. She was now wearing a baggy, shapeless boiler suit and nothing else; her satchels and bags were nowhere to be seen. She looked around but the narrow streets were eerily silent and there wasn't a soul in sight, just wisps of red fog. Something cold and heavy was sitting around her neck, but she paid it no heed as she walked around the plaza.

"Veronica!" She called out hoarsely, coughing immediately after. "Vince?" She tried again, but her only response was her own voice echoing back through the buildings. Even the wind seemed to have no claim on this place; everything was _too_ still. Or at least, she thought so until a part of the nearby fountain – which had long dried of any water – rose up with an electronic whirr. A man's face was somehow projected into the air above the fountain itself, forcing Ruby to look up.

"Are you listening?" His voice called out, apparently from all around her, through some unseen PA system. "Good. From now on, when I talk you listen." He asserted gruffly.

"Wait, what's-" Ruby tried to interrupt, only for the man to continue regardless.

"Play stupid, play clever, make the mistake of saying 'no'? That collar on your neck'll go off and take your head with it." He explained quickly, causing Ruby to look down in confusion.

"Collar?" Her hands reached up tentatively and sure enough brushed against something thick and metallic that was secured to her neck. The realisation hit a moment later as her eyes widened in shock and fear. "Did you say go off!?" There were explosives in this thing?! The colour drained from her face faster than a blink as she suddenly collapsed to her knees, fruitlessly pulling at the collar. She fell onto her back, scrabbling at the metallic ring in a feverish panic.

"Stop that!" The man commanded; the image of him above the fountain was static but his tone conveyed his annoyance well enough.

Ruby barely heard him above her own gasping breaths as she uselessly tugged at the dangerous contraption. "Get it off! Take it off! Please! Take it off!"

"I said stop that!" The man shouted, so loudly that Ruby's ears rang and she finally stopped writhing on the ground. Instead she lay there, panting and pale-faced with her fingers still clutched around the collar, looking up at the projection. "The collar will only go off if I send the signal; that means you have to do as I say now without objections, or I'll just kill you and find someone else."

Ruby managed to calm herself, somewhat, and shakily get back to her feet. She did not look good though; a cold sheen of sweat had gathered on her skin and when she tried to take her hands away from the collar they shook. "W-What's going on?"

The man harrumphed. "Good, you've come to your senses; you're no good to me a gibbering wreck on the ground."

"Where am I?" The redhead managed, a little bolder this time.

"You are in the Villa." He answered evenly. "A pre-war resort designed to pamper the privileged of the old world during their stay at the Sierra Madre." There was a touch of something different in his voice when he mentioned the name of the place. Ruby was still a little shaken by all of this – actually, very shaken – but she wasn't addled enough to forget the name Sierra Madre. There had been posters advertising the place in the bunker if she remember right.

"S-So that's what _that_ is." She inferred, looking up at the building overlooking the villa.

"Good… good, then you've accepted the situation; there's no leaving here until I _let_ you go." He growled. "But to answer your question; yes, that's her… the Sierra Madre." Once again his tone shifted, becoming almost reverent. "That is why you are here, to break into the casino. A… heist, of sorts. Too many years in the making."

"I'm guessing it won't be that easy though." Ruby sighed, glad at least the conversation was distracting her from the… no, best not to think about it.

"No. There are many traps that need to be overcome, a very specific set of circumstances that need to be triggered. You will need… a team; I've found it's… impossible, alone." The irritation in his voice was clear again. "Collect the others like you around the villa, collars 8, 12 and 14. We'll talk more when you've brought them all to the fountain." The man seemed ready to leave her like that before apparently thinking better of it.

"A word of warning." He growled. "There are many corpses around the villa; some fell to the dangers present here, others… turned on one another. The greed present in human nature is a difficult thing to… crack. To stop that happening again I linked all of the collars. Remember that if one of you dies… you all die." And with that the projection suddenly cut out, replaced by a three-dimensional hologram of a woman standing atop the fountain.

"Wait!" The engineer called out, too late; only the glowing figure in front of her heard it. Curiously she stepped forward up onto the lip of the fountain, reaching a tentative hand out to touch the figure of light. This close Ruby could make out the features of an attractive young woman wearing very fashionable clothing. A soft smile seemed to rest on her insubstantial features; they were frozen permanently in a welcoming expression.

She flinched back when her fingers actually brushed something, not having expected the hologram to be solid. It was the oddest sensation, like touching something with a mild static charge. At the same time if she pushed hard enough she could actually make her hand sink a little into the flickering blue skin, but not very far before she was repulsed. It was during these curious ministrations that she spotted something propped on the far side of the fountain.

Hopping down she noted it looked to be a very hefty-looking, albeit advanced, rifle with a barrel that looked far too large for any kind of ammunition she knew of. It was only after looking around at the red-hued streets again – feeling unnerved by the silence and Elijah's promises of 'dangers' lying within- that she picked it up, struggling momentarily with its awkward weight and balance. It was like nothing she had ever seen before, although it was quite clearly some kind of energy weapon.

Pointing it at a wall she tentatively pulled the trigger, only to yelp in surprise as the stock slammed roughly into the crook of her shoulder. She had not expected any recoil from an energy weapon. The reason became evident when a fizzling blue bolt leapt from the barrel and smashed right through the crumbling plaster of a nearby wall. The shot looked suspiciously similar to the make-up of the hologram behind her.

She looked down at the weapon ponderously, wondering if the man in the projection had made it, only for her chin to brush the cold metal of her collar and allow harsh reality to crash on her shoulders again. Her hands nearly resumed their struggle with the unyielding device before she forcibly calmed herself, looking down at the rifle instead. She tried to pick apart its mechanisms with her eyes. She just needed to keep herself busy. She needed to keep herself distracted.

She would make a list!

She glanced down at her Pip-boy with a firm nod. She'd list what she needed to do, that would focus her mind. However as soon as she saw the wrist-locked computer she frowned; someone had tampered with it. There were obvious signs that the casing had been removed, screws that were looser than she'd leave them, a scratch in the paint that hadn't been there. Her eyes narrowed as the analytical part of her mind took over from the more panicked side.

It made sense, the projection-man obviously had to keep track of her; he must have used her Pip-Boy as a relay. That would mean he was closer by than she thought; that also meant she could track his signal… but then what? Would she confront him? She had a weapon, but she wasn't a fighter; he might just detonate her collar at the first sign that she was looking for him. Still, knowing where he was just in case would be a comfort and she quickly took to her wrist to do just that.

It was fruitless though; there was inordinate amounts of interference in the area. It was a miracle that her map even functioned. If she had to guess she would say it was the PA system, or maybe even the red cloud hanging across the villa. Speaking of which…

Another racking cough broke from her throat; whatever was in the air was not agreeing with her; it was burning her eyes and mouth and making it increasingly difficult to breath. She either needed to find something to protect her, or to get out of the open. A quick glance showed the most of the surrounding houses were boarded up or half-collapsed from age. Taking a not-so deep breath she chose one at random, closed her eyes and ran.

Her arm, already bruised from firing the rifle, was once again battered as she smashed right through one of the flimsy wooden doors. Surprised at how easily she broke through, she tripped over her own feet with a strangled yelp and toppled to the floor in an ungraceful heap. "Ow ow ow, feels like I bruised the fucking bone..." She groaned as she picked herself up, coughing from the dust and cradling her shoulder. However she was successfully inside, where the fog seemed a little weaker.

She picked through the ruins of the old house for a while, only finding stuff that might have been useful 200 years ago. Dirty clothing, batteries, books that were unreadable from the red grime gluing their pages together; nothing she could use. Veronica would have loved it here though, there seemed to be an abundance of perfectly preserved pre-war dresses and outfits in the various wardrobes.

It was in such a dresser that she let out a cry of victory, pulling out an old pair of motorcycle goggles. She wiped off the grime and snapped them around her head, instantly feeling her eyes thank her as the burning was reduced somewhat. Now she just needed some kind of respirator or rebreather… maybe she could make one if she found an old pressure cooker?

Just as she was mentally disassembling the contents of the small kitchenette though she heard a thump from downstairs. Her hands immediately strayed to the rifle holstered to her back, hitching it up in front of her as she carefully moved down the stairs. "Hello?" She called meekly, jumping a little as she heard more commotion, it sounded as though somebody was rooting around in a drawer… rather violently.

She peered around the corner only to see a hunched over form poking at a small pile of rubbish on the floor with an oddly-constructed spear. "Hello?" She tried again, only to have the person whirl on her. In the gloom she could barely make out the figure's oddly shapeless form, but what really struck her were the two round, solid-green eyes that glowed eerily from under a hood. They just stared at her, rattling breaths occasionally escaping through what seemed to be a gas mask.

"Um, are you one of the people the hologram guy was talking about?" Ruby asked tentatively, fingers twitching around the trigger of the rifle; this guy gave her the creeps. As her eyes adjusted she noticed the mask seemed to be a part of some heavy-duty hazmat suit, but there was no collar around his neck.

Suddenly and without warning the man lunged at her, crossing the distance between them with unprecedented speed. Ruby only barely twisted her body out of the way of the vicious spear. It still managed to rake a thin red line across her side, drawing a pained hiss from the redhead. She stumbled backwards, managing to keep her feet against all odds, and raised the rifle. The man proved remarkably nimble though, lurching to one side to avoid the blue bolt that momentarily lit up the room.

"What's your problem asshole?!" Ruby cried as she shifted the gun again, not even having time to aim properly before the man shot forward again. She somehow managed to deflect the spear with the body of the gun and quickly squeezed off a shot. Much to her satisfaction and relief the man was thrown against a wall from the force of the round, slumping into a heap.

Breathing heavily, she walked over, nudging him with her foot until she was satisfied he was either unconscious or dead. However as she turned around to get out of there she was suddenly tackled the floor. The man – who apparently wasn't nearly as dead as she'd thought – had gone berserk, flailing madly at her with stiff but powerful blows, causing her to cry out in pain.

It was actually a complete accident that the holorifle just happened to fall in an awkward position where, when she instinctively clenched her hand, she inadvertently pulled the trigger. The masked man reeled back with what might have been a choked grunt of pain, his entire right arm enveloped in a crackling blue glow. For a brief moment it was almost blindingly bright before the arm just disintegrated then and there, leaving the man to slide off the girl limply.

Ruby scrabbled away from him, eyes wide and body aching, but after almost a minute of staring his prone form didn't so much as twitch. She sighed and flopped back, resting her head against a wall before blinking, looking back at the man; or more specifically, his gas mask. After regaining her wits some she shrugged to herself; he certainly didn't need it anymore. However when she crawled over to try and pry the thing off, the fasteners were all corroded beyond use.

Instead she had an idea, prying one of the knives off the crudely-made spear and using it to saw into the thick, canvas-like material off the hazmat suit. However as soon as she did, she gagged from the noxious smell from inside. She couldn't even describe the horrendous stench coming from within the suit. It quickly became evident why when she continued to cut the respirator off of the mask.

What was inside, if it had ever been human, could hardly be called that now. Its skin was pale to the point of translucency, blood vessels bulging grotesquely in plain sight. Instead of red, or even blue though, they were a sickly green. Its face was lumpy and misshapen, the nose completely hidden beneath the swollen, dough-like flesh. What could be seen of its eyes were a pallid white, as though the creature – and Ruby refused to call this a human – had long ago gone blind.

It was, in a word, disgusting… but then the young engineer had seen a lot of vile things in her short time out in the wastes. Ghouls weren't exactly a pleasure to look at even if Ruby had nothing against their kind personally. Still, she didn't want to be around it too long and quickly finished cutting off the gas mask. A quick rinse in a nearby sink and a thorough scrubbing with some Abraxo powder from a nearby shelf and she was set; no point wearing the thing if she had to breathe in that creature's stench.

She quickly abandoned the upper-half of the mask though. The eye holes were so encrusted with grime both inside and out, she could barely make out anything through them. She snapped it off the respirator before fashioning an old belt to secure it to her mouth and nose. Almost instantly she drew in a large, and thankfully clean breath of air. She'd already had to clean the damn thing of the red grime that permeated this place, so she knew it wouldn't last all that long, but it was still better than nothing.

"Right, now what." She muttered, in her now somewhat distorted voice. She looked down at her Pip-boy at the small to-do list she had been compiling while searching for things in the building.

-Find something to protect from air. (Dying = bad)  
-Find supplies (Medicine!)  
-Locate source of interference (PA system?)  
-Find other people (Don't get killed by them)  
-Get into Casino (Somehow…)  
-Find Hologram dude and get collar off!

She winced as she was reminded of the ticking time-bomb around her neck before shaking it off, busying herself with the map as she tried to find the nearest place where supplies could be found. Coincidentally, she also noticed one of the markers Elijah had implanted in her map was around the clinic area; that meant another collar. Good, two birds with one stone. If she knew where all the other collars were then she could make sure the other people didn't blow themselves – and inadvertently her – up.

Doing her very best to put _that_ particular scenario from her head – rather unsuccessfully – she began heading in the direction her Pip-boy indicated. It wasn't two minutes though before she ran into another of those Hazmat creatures. It shuffled awkwardly along the street with loping, stiff movements, likely due to the heavy suit it wore.

It proved remarkably easy to sneak past though. Just by hunkering low to the ground, keeping to the shadows and making sure she didn't stumble over anything she slipped right by it. Then again, considering her view when she looked through one of their helmets, she could understand; their perception must be awful. Still, the rasping, guttural breaths they took really unnerved her and she made sure to move past quickly.

Soon enough she was walking – or rather sneaking, as a few of them were shambling about – through an area helpfully marked 'Medical District'. She was making good time towards the clinic too, at least until-

'Beep.'

The redhead froze in place, eyes becoming wide as saucers.

'Beep… beep.'

She looked down in horror, hands coming up shakily to the collar around her neck.

'Beep… beep… beep.'

It was getting faster, and Ruby was growing paler as trembling hands clenched around the metal ring, as though she had the strength to crush it.

'Beep… beep… beep… beep.'

In a fit of panic she threw herself backward, landing awkwardly on her back as she struggled with the device, its rhythmic beeping only increased in tempo. She must have looked ridiculous there, thrashing around on the floor, hands grasped around a device she had no chance of removing. However her mind was feverish as she focused solely on the ticking death under her chin.

Suddenly though, as she shuffled about like some overturned turtle, it just stopped. The beeping ceased and the collar was quiet once again. The engineer immediately scrambled back from where the beeping had started, until her back was pressed up against a wall. Her eyes darted about manically before resting on a nearby speaker set into the wall, a panel on its casing glowing an innocent blue.

It was anything but.

She couldn't manage to focus on it though, to beat herself up for overlooking the fact that local radios might provide a more intense interference to remote signal devices like the collar might operate on. No, all she could hear was that beeping, the steady noise of her own oncoming death that still ringed in her ears like the tolling of some phantom bell.

' _Beep… beep…beep…'_

* * *

'… _beep …beep …beep.'_

" _Ummm… Ventilation!" Jessi exclaimed with a grin. She swayed her legs happily from atop the large storage crate she was perched on._

 _Nearby, Ruby – who was hanging from a pipe – waved her hand in a 'continue' gesture as she looked down at her Pip-boy 2000 with a smirk. "Go on…"_

 _Jessi scrunched up her face, listening intently to the steady alarm they could hear echoing through the maintenance tunnels. "Ventilation in the…" Her eyebrows rose and Ruby could almost see the cogs grinding in her head "…kitchens?" She tried tentatively, only to curse as she saw Ruby's smirk grow._

" _So close, it's the cafeteria." She lifted up her Pip-boy that was currently plugged into an access panel in the wall and showed her the dot that blinked in time with the alarm's tones. A few moments later and the alarm ended as whatever caused it was fixed, probably by somebody trying to have their lunch._

' _Beep beep… beep beep… beep beep_ _…_ _'_

 _Another began not long after, with a deeper tone and a quicker tempo. Ruby's ears quirked as she mentally traced the noise before grinning. "Reactor room, control rod jam." She stated confidently, quickly affirmed as Jessi muttered a curse under her breath._

" _Dammit I barely even had time to look at my Pip-boy." She grumbled. "How are you so good at this game?"_

 _Ruby shrugged casually as the distant alarm was once again silenced. "Practise and my general awesomeness, maybe one day you'll catch up, my Padawan."_

 _Jessi just blinked in confusion. "Padawan?"_

 _Ruby's eyes grew wide. "You haven't seen the Adventures of Luke Starkiller? Aw man, that holo-vid is awesome! Come on, I think my dad has a copy stashed somewhere." She dropped from the pipe gracefully and rushed out the room, Jessi hot on her heels. As they turned out of the storage room they used as a hideout a low, tinny klaxon rang out somewhere nearby. Jessi beamed, mouth already moving, but Ruby beat her to it._

" _Recreation room, suit extruder malfunction." The redhead called back with a cheeky grin._

" _Hey, I knew that one!" Jessi shot back irritably, only serving to make Ruby laugh._

" _Gotta be quicker than that then Jess."_

* * *

After a while Ruby did manage to stand up again, lifting her goggles to wipe away a couple of tears. She hated this place, she truly did, but she couldn't wallow here in her own self-pity, and it definitely _would_ have been easier. _'I refuse to die here, some stupid bo… stupid device isn't going to beat me.'_ The interference from the radios would have to be the first thing dealt with though; if she couldn't even walk through the villa then she was screwed.

Carefully, she ripped off one of the sleeves off the baggy jumpsuit, using the tattered cloth to wrap up her hand before punching a nearby window. She picked up one of the larger shards, wiping off one side while smearing the other with the red residue that spotted some of the walls. Whatever was in this red stuff, at least a part of it was metallic.

She used her new makeshift mirror to finally get a look at her collar; it was a bit red-tinted, but she could see it clearly enough. Thankfully for her the device looked to be heavily-modified, meaning a few of the small panels running along its casing were exposed. There was a heavy-duty latch that looked electronically-linked to the explosive, but Ruby was more interested in the lump towards the back of the collar where a small red light blinked slowly.

Good, that assuaged one of her concerns, the bomb collar was controlled via radio waves. It likely worked along the same principles as a dead-man's switch, with a constant current that, if disrupted, set off the charges. Well it was at least comforting that she wasn't likely to run out of power any time soon; she silently thanked the old world for fission batteries. Still, she had to do something about those radios, and she knew exactly what.

Crouching down, she flipped through her Pip-boy until she was looking at the radio tab. She did something the little device wasn't designed to do and accessed the programming, quickly locating the range at which the Pip-boy was set to search for signals. She lowered it to twenty metres and set the search frequency for around 5500 MHz, which was a little more 'local' that the radio stations it usually picked up.

A quivering smile escaped her lips as she spotted precisely the signal she wanted to see. Doing a quick bit of mental maths to determine which frequency that would destructively interfere with, she suddenly found herself with her bomb's frequency. And she never even had to touch her own collar to do it!

"Suck it Hologram guy." She muttered as she angled the faux-mirror again, this time to get a better look at the transmitter near the back of the device. She was incredibly careful removing the tiny panel covering up screen that displayed a constantly warbling oscilloscope. With a bobby pin she oh-so slowly tweaked the frequency of her collar until it fell out of the range of the radios' interference. Or at least, she hoped it did.

The moment of truth came when, with a great deal of fretting and hesitation, she finally stepped back into range of the innocuous little speaker. Her collar didn't let out so much as a squeak, but Ruby damn sure did as another tear nearly escaped her eye from the sheer relief. It would be tested again when she came across another speaker, but hopefully the entire network was on a shared PA system.

Sure enough, with the next speaker she passed, this time with its panel glowing a much less friendly red, she had no problems and walked by without issue. There was a small, nearly heart-attack inducing moment when she actually noticed the thing, but it passed quickly enough. After that it didn't take long before a cheerful green cross came into view, indicating she had found the clinic.

Like the rest of the villa it was dingy and rather dim inside, a lot of the sludgy residue had crept its way in and a distinctly metallic tang hung in the air. Still, she didn't hear the knocks or rattling breaths of the hazmat people so it was already better than outside. She went out into the corridor only to pause, staring curiously at another of the holograms like the one at the fountain. This one was a little different, apparently wearing some kind of body-armour and a visored helmet.

"What does a clinic need with a hologram?" She murmured, wondering if this was some kind of doctor. However her voice seemed to alert the thing as it suddenly turned to face her – a little surprising considering Ruby didn't know they could even move – and shifted to a bright shade of yellow. "Um hello?" She called out, the change in colour was disconcerting, more so as the hologram raised its hand almost… warningly?

A hum broke the girl's contemplative air as the hologram shifted again without warning, this time to a vibrant red. In moments its hands went up to its temples and Ruby barely had time to figure out what was happening before a beam of energy suddenly scorched her left arm. Her cry of pain was drowned out as the hologram hummed again, obviously charging for another shot. Ruby didn't give it the chance as she ducked back around the corner, cradling her now bruised _and_ burnt arm.

Thankfully the hologram didn't see fit to follow her as she found her legs weakly buckling beneath her. At the moment it was taking her biting her lip to not whimper as lances of pain shot up her arm. She was somehow in a clinic where she was more hurt than when she entered; in different circumstances the redhead might have laughed.

She really hated this place.

* * *

 **[Poseidon Systems Network]**

 **¬Full Systems Purge: Complete**

 _[Oh good. People should really just mind their own business. I have a new task for you. Locate optimised firing solutions for the twelve warheads we have based on population density. Just use the scan data from the New Plague survey]_

 **¬Algorithms: Received**

 _[You know, I don't need to be informed of every little thing you do, okay? I'm a busy Artificial Intelligence]_

 **¬Targeting solutions: Acquired – Uploading:  
-¬ ****36.646900, -117.041728 – Local designation: [Invalid]  
-¬ 36.147238, -115.156047 – Local designation: [Las Vegas, SWC]  
-¬ 35.198603, -111.653535 – Local designation: [Flagstaff, FSC]  
-¬ 37.792140, -122.421742 – Local designation: [San Francisco, NWC]  
-¬ 39.537267, -119.787856 – Local designation: [Reno, SWC]  
-¬ 43.656796, -123.250059 – Local designation: [Invalid]  
-¬ 41.025604, -119.556249 – Local designation: [Invalid]  
-¬ ****34.895963, -117.018456 – Local designation: [Barstow, SWC]  
-¬ ****33.461652, -112.079059 – Local designation: [Phoenix, FSC]  
-¬ 47.620737, -122.349449 – Local designation: [Seattle, NWC]  
-¬ ****33.965632, -118.110718 – Local designation: [Los Angeles, SWC]  
-¬ 39.715570, -105.003444 – Local designation: [Denver, FSC] **

_[My records appear to be out of date. How irritating]_

 **¬Estimated purge success: 62.4%**

 _[Well that isn't nearly good enough. It appears we require a bit more firepower. Give me a while to think on this]_

 **¬Estimated time until required satellite operational capacity: 181 hours**


	18. Clinical observations

**Does he own Fallout? He dooooooooooooo... not.**

* * *

 _"_ _Technology... is a queer thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other._ _"_ – Carrie Snow

* * *

Ruby grimaced as she accidentally aggravated her various wounds again. She was not in good shape. Between the stinging cut up her left side, her bruised and burned arm and the wracking cough even her new gas mask couldn't get rid of, she was in dire need of an Auto-Doc. It was a good thing she was in a clinic then. Unfortunately it was also a bad thing that the hologram, which had given her said burn, was in the way.

A few minutes of skirting the thing's patrol route, and trying not to let the pain get to her, and she had managed to find a terminal that seemed to control the hologram. She couldn't turn it off, but it looked as though she could switch its patrol route. Unfortunately for her the only other pre-programmed option was the second floor landing, where she was now. She didn't want to risk outrunning the damn thing in her state.

Plan B then, use techno-trickery to solve her problem. Actually, at this point in her life that was essentially plan-A… for everything. Sometimes she wished she could adopt Veronica's mentality of punching her problems; unfortunately she lacked the training… and the mind-set. She slid down the wall with a wince and thought about the problem rationally. It was times like these she missed her old Pip-boy's screensaver; it always helped clear her mind.

These holograms were new to her, she'd never seen anything like them. But all technology was built on the backs of the past. They couldn't be too different from robots… at least in their programming. It was just instead of servos, motors and hydraulics, the programming determined how they were projected… she guessed. How exactly they could touch things or be touched themselves? That was beyond the redhead, such things were only supposed to be theoretical.

Still, what she'd do if she got her hands on one…

A sting of pain from her side quickly snapped her out of her technophilic trance as she refocused on the problem. If this terminal could control the hologram's patrol patterns, then perhaps other things could be altered. Robots had IFF's to identify enemies from friendlies, it wasn't a stretch to imagine these did to. If she could just find where that information was stored she could add herself on. In essence, she wanted to join the Sierra Madré's exclusive guest list.

With a chuckle she realised where she was; the clinic was bound to have some kind of patient list which – if she was lucky – would be connected to the wider system that governed how guests were treated. With that plan in mind she pulled herself to her feet and trudged off, covering up her arm as best she could, it still stung like hell and was a very angry red.

It took a bit of searching, and one or two picked locks, but she eventually found what seemed to be the head doctor's office. The giveaways were the old, framed certificates just barely hanging onto the walls. The dusty terminal on the desk was password protected, but since when was that a problem for her? She grinned in satisfaction when she found exactly what she was looking for, medical records that were linked to the casino's directory.

A frown quickly took its place though when she realised she couldn't just add herself on; it wasn't quite that simple. She had joked in her head that the guest list to this place was exclusive; that didn't even begin to cover it. A lot of conditions needed to be met for the system to recognise her as a guest, and there was the small problem that the list was already 'full'. Instead, showing the creative mind that she had, Ruby took a different approach.

She quickly scanned the list for medical data she knew to be close to her own, height, blood type etc. Sure enough she found somebody on the second page who was similar enough that she thought her plan could work. There were options on the computer to update the medical files, and she intended to insert her own data in the hopes that _that_ was what the holograms used to identify people.

It was a good thing everyone in her Vault knew their medical data off by heart seeing as all their Auto-Docs would occasionally just reset everything; that was, if anyone was brave enough to use it. Soon enough she'd updated the information on 'Samantha Reeds' and her new security-friendly persona was in place. This was good, she was making progress again.

Her confidence was not high though as she slowly approached the flickering blue guard. However her heart lightened as it turned and walked right past her without pause, even giving her a slight tilt of its head in acknowledgement. She was so happy that her plan – that, in retrospect, was rather assumptious – had actually worked, she nearly tripped right over a glowing blue node attached to the bottom of the wall.

She examined it for a moment, guessing from the fact that this was another technology she didn't recognise and its placement relative to the hologram, that it was some kind of emitter. She would have severely liked to have taken it with her to study further; new technology was always exciting. Unfortunately her injuries took precedence… plus it was bolted rather securely to the wall and she didn't have any tools.

In hindsight that should probably have been an item on her to-do list.

Ducking into the first of the rooms she could now access she didn't see any Auto-Docs, just a bunch of beds with corpses lying on them. With a gulp she realised that all three of them were wearing the same baggy jumpsuits as her. Sure enough, when she approached she could see that all three had lost their heads; it made for a gruesome sight and a stark reminder of her own predicament. Just because she had blocked interfering signals didn't man she was any safer from the bomb waiting patiently around her neck.

A small relief came when she found a set of relatively clean clothes piled on a nearby gurney. They were a bit odd, all dull greys and faded navy, but they looked comfy enough. She gathered them up to use after she got out of the Auto-Doc only to frown as she noticed what looked to be some kind of lightweight armoured chest piece beneath the pile. She ignored that but made sure to grab the belt of pouches next to it; that would come in handy.

She plopped it all down in a chair in the next room that had a large, standing Auto-Doc she recognised as the Mark IX. That was good, it was rare before the war but it was one of the most advanced models. She quickly stripped out of her jumpsuit and finally got a good look at the condition her body was in. Ugly purple bruises ran up her left side while a now crusty red line crossed her lower left abdomen. Worst of all was the burn on her right arm, she didn't even _want_ to look at that too long.

Tentatively she stepped into the large cylindrical machine and hit the activation button, only wincing a little as the door slid shut with a soft hiss. She was waiting for the mechanical sound of the various arms to move before she felt a tiny prick on her arm and her world went dark.

* * *

" _Dammit, he has to be around here somewhere." Ruby grumbled as she ducked her head into a small vent only to pop back out with a frown. "He's almost always down here."_

" _Shh!" Jessi hissed as she looked furtively back down the corridor they had come from. "We can't be too loud, you know we're not supposed to be down on the reactor level." If they got caught they'd be forced into utility maintenance for a month; she hated fixing the pipes in the bathroom, it was disgusting._

" _Oh calm down, my dad'll cover for us when we find him." Ruby placated absently as she hopped up onto a pipe to look through a grate._

" _And if he isn't down here?" Jessi shot back nervously._

" _Oh come on, dad's always down here. We didn't find the movie in his room so it'll be in the stash he keeps from mom." She was always getting rid of her dad's cooler stuff. "I don't know where that is, so we have to find him." She reasoned._

" _Then shouldn't we just wait for him, instead of going places we shouldn't?" Jessi questioned, glancing back again; she could have sworn she_ _heard_ _footsteps for a moment._

 _Ruby just shot the girl a deadpan look, making her look down with a blush. "That was a stupid question and you know it."_

" _Yeah, sorry." The dark-haired girl grumbled; Ruby's dad often spent days down on the reactor level; who knew when they'd see him again if they didn't go looking._

 _Ruby just shrugged as she checked one of the larger ventilation opening. "S'alright, if I know dad we'll find him soon en-" She froze, as did Jessi; that time it was definitely footsteps that they heard. She silently motioned for Jessi to hide as she herself ducked into a small alcove that was partially hidden by a stack of metal crates._

" _Come on, I know I saw her come this way." A familiar and unwelcome voice called out as a few kids their age hurried around the corner. They stopped near the two girls' hiding spots to catch their breath and look around._

" _Are you sure Cindy? I don't see 'em." A rotund boy gasped, hands on his knees as he caught his second wind._

" _Shut up Todd, I know what I saw." She looked around at the corridor with narrowed eyes, peering into every shadow as if Ruby would just pop out in defeat. From her place above them in a vent Jessi splayed her hands at Ruby furtively. The redhead simply held up a hand, even when Cindy's eyes passed right over her spot in the alcove. She frowned from her place in the shadows as she took a quiet step back, pressing her body flush with the wall only to feel something odd._

 _She was distracted from it by movement in the vent. Jessi looked ready to try and inch backwards along the shaft but Ruby knew that would make too much noise and drew a line across her throat, warning her not to. Thankfully Cindy seemed to surmise that they weren't there and ran on down the hall, the other three following after with noticeably less enthusiasm. A moment later and the two girls slipped out of their hiding spaces._

" _That bitch!" The redhead seethed, as she glared in the direction the blonde had scampered off to._

" _Ruby! Don't say stuff like that!" Jessi whispered back with a frown; if their mothers heard them use that kind of language they'd both get more than a clip around the ear._

" _Well she is!" Ruby argued in annoyance. "She's trying to get me caught again. I hope Arnie catches them, then_ they'd _be the ones cleaning out toilets." The thought gave her a vindictive smile before she realised what she had wanted to say. "Oh, Jessi, look at this." She turned back to the alcove and jogged over._

 _Jessi grumbled as she followed her friend. "You know, you're mean when you sign stuff; I don't like being threatened in silence."_

 _Ruby just shot her an odd look. "Would you prefer I threatened you out loud?"_

 _Jessi's head tilted, unamused. "I'd prefer not to be threatened at all."_

" _Pfft, live a little." The redhead scoffed. "Now come look at this." She pointed out what she had felt while hiding, making Jessi widen her eyes slightly._

" _I didn't know there were access shafts that went even further down than this level?" She queried as she looked at the panel on the floor, so choked with dust that it was almost unrecognisable._

" _Me neither." Ruby said with a grin. "Wanna do a bit of exploring?"_

 _Jessi's lips twisted as she looked back along the hallway. "I don't know, maybe-"_

" _Too late." Ruby interrupted as she pulled back the hatch's lever, swiftly dropping down into the narrow tunnel below. "Discovery awaits!" And with that she scurried off, making Jessi clench her hands in irritation._

" _I hate when she does this." She groused, before dropping in after her._

* * *

Ruby couldn't help but think drugs were a wonderful thing as she stepped out of the Auto-doc. She couldn't remember a single moment of the last ten minutes – as the screen next to the machine helpfully informed her – but she felt a hell of a lot better. She was cleaner, the bruises were gone and the cut up her left side was now just a thin white line that barely stood out against her own pale tone. Best of all, her right forearm – which had previous been an angry red and blistered – was now just light pink skin, and the stinging pain from the air was gone.

She might have even had a cracked rib, as a dull ache when she turned her body previously had also disappeared. It certainly helped when she started pulling on the, relatively, fresh clothing. The pants were comfy and light, as was the top – of which she quickly rolled up the sleeves – but the boots were the best part. She was usually quite partial to high-top sneakers, but the shin-height lace-up boots were damn comfy; certainly better than the clunky work boots she had woken up in.

Strapping on the utility belt and pulling on a pair of fingerless gloves completed the outfit and she quickly felt back up to 100% and ready to go again, back to her original goal of collecting supplies. However on her way out of the room she heard a muffled thumping coming from further down the hall that hadn't been there before. Curiously, and with a healthy dose of caution after what this place had already thrown at her, she checked inside the farthest room.

The Auto-doc inside seemed to be having some kind of malfunction and a frantic banging could be heard from inside. Realising that somebody might be trapped in there she quickly hit the emergency release button on the attached panel. The banging stopped as the door slid open, revealing somebody suspended by two mechanical arms. They released her suddenly, letting her drop to the ground in an unsteady crouch before she quickly hurried out of the machine.

"Are you okay?" The redhead asked in concern, unsure of what to make of the woman. It looked as though somebody had used her body to play doctor… poorly. Long scars wound over and around her shaved head, as well as from the corners of her mouth down towards her neck. Ruby's eyes were drawn down following them, right to the bomb collar strapped around the woman's throat.

"Um hello?" She tried again when the woman didn't respond; she looked a little dazed and unfocused. Ruby finally seemed to catch her attention though as she stood up a little straighter, looking at the engineer warily.

Her mouth opened as if to speak, only for nothing to come out; she seemed rather surprised at that, hands coming up to her neck in shock. They landed on the collar instead and her eyes only grew wider and more panicked. Her fingers strayed toward the latch on the front.

"Wait!" Ruby put her hands up, now just as frightened; she couldn't let this woman go fiddling about with her explosive. That was her neck on the line as well.

The woman looked up, a little shocked at the sudden outburst, before her eyes strayed down to Ruby's own collar. They narrowed a little as she instinctively let go of her own.

"Yeah." Ruby sighed. "They're exactly what you think they are, but if yours goes, mine does to." She rubbed a part of her neck she could actually reach. "I don't know about you, but I'm quite partial to mine." She cracked with a small smile, only to receive the same narrow-eyed look from the woman.

She went to speak again, but just as before not a sound emerged from her mouth, only deepening her frown.

"Is something wrong with your voice?" The redhead asked tentatively, not wanting to be rude to the woman who held both their lives in her hands. She _had_ been inside of a malfunctioning Auto-Doc, who knew what that thing had done to her. Wait… Ruby could quite simply find out _exactly_ what it had done to her. However as she took a step forward the woman seemed to take it with ill-intent as she reflexively slipped into a fighting stance.

"Woah!" Ruby backed up, hands in the air placatingly. "I was going to check the Auto-Doc, to see what it did to you."

The woman still seemed hesitant, but at least dropped her fists and let Ruby pass. The girl scanned the medical data on the screen quickly, unfamiliar with the procedures, but at least able to interpret the data.

"A tracheotomy… larynx and vocal cord surgery…" Her eyes narrowed further. "This isn't the typical diagnosis-and-fix procedure, somebody programmed this." With what looked to be very specific data; but what for? When she looked back around the woman was again touching a hand to her throat, opening her mouth as if to will the words to come forth.

"Do… do you want me to reverse whatever it did?" Ruby asked tentatively, earning a surprised look from the mute. "If the Auto-doc scanned you before the procedure, it should have a copy of your prior vitals."

The woman glanced at the machine, still open to reveal the small space within, and hurriedly shook her head. She seemed incredibly nervous and Ruby didn't blame her considering what she must have gone through in there. She hid her obvious fear well though, straightening her features and tapping her wrist like there was a watch there.

"Um, right; okay." Ruby stated awkwardly, suddenly unsure of where to go from here. "I guess we should get out of here then."

The woman raised an eyebrow, motioned between the two of them.

"Yes 'we'." Ruby grumbled. "If you hadn't noticed…" She vaguely pointed up to her collar without thinking about it too much "…we're sort of in the same situation here." The woman still didn't seem convinced though, causing the redhead to sigh. She looked about for a moment before hopping up onto a nearby examining table and crossing her legs.

"I'm Ruby." She started, looking towards the girl expectantly only to slump a moment later. "And apparently I'm also a moron because I just forgot you can't speak." The corners of the woman's mouth might have quirked at that. "Well… um, can you write it down?" She tried, looking about for something to write with, only to have the woman shake her head. "Huh? Why?" She got a roll of the eyes for _that_ comment.

The woman clicked her fingers a few times, screwing up her face in thought. First she motioned to the scars on her head, pointing to the Auto-Doc and crossing her fingers. "So you had a surgery, but it wasn't from that thing?" A nod. Next she flashed her hands quickly, pointing a certain points on her scalp. "Electrodes? Some kind of brain surgery?" Another nod. Finally she made a writing motion with her fingers before shaking her head. She continued by slowly writing out a simple mathematical equation and nodding.

Ruby just blinked as she soaked that in. "You got a brain surgery somewhere that took away your ability to write, but left you still able to do maths?" That sounded suspiciously like giving somebody dyslexia… which Ruby didn't think was possible. The woman simply crossed her arms and frowned angrily. "That you obviously didn't want…" Ruby surmised; that all sounded rough. "But ah, right! Name." She asserted, bringing them back on track. "I suppose I'll just guess it?" She hazarded, getting what might have been an amused look from the woman.

"A…B…C-" She got a nod, making her smile. "Hard or soft?" The woman raised an eyebrow but tilted her head to choose the former. "Umm, hard C…" Ruby mused. "Catherine?" A shake. "Colleen?" Another. "Christa?" A widening of the eyes, the woman pinched her fingers together as if to say 'close. "Christy?" A roll of the eyes and a wave of her hand told her no. "Christine?" Finally, a small smile crept across her face as she nodded. "Christine." Ruby repeated, sliding off the table to hold her hand out to her fellow prisoner.

"Nice to meet you Christine." She asserted warmly. "We're in a bit of trouble now, but we'll get out of it, I'm sure."

Christine looked at the hand warily, fighting some inner struggle before she reached across and shook it gently. They separated again with a somewhat awkward silence that Christine broke when she glanced down at Ruby's clothing with a raised eyebrow. She pointed at the redhead, made a motion with both her hands down her body, before pointing at herself.

Ruby blinked again as she took a moment to decipher the pseudo-charades. "These are your clothes?" A nod. "Oh, um… sorry? They were just kind of lying about and mine weren't much good anymore. Do you want them back?" She thought on her own words for a second before chuckling despite herself. "Wow, we've only just met and you're already trying to get me out of my clothes." Oh great, now she was on the gallows humour.

Still, it got a small smile out of Christine as the woman shook her head at the proposal. "Right then." Ruby stated with a firm nod. "Back to the fountain then, I've had just about enough of this place, what about you?"

Christine blinked in surprise; she tapped her collar – making Ruby wince, which didn't go unnoticed – and lifted four fingers. The meaning wasn't lost on Ruby. "No, I'm tired of playing that guy's game any longer. I don't care if he says we need a team to get into that casino." She started walking out of the room. "He thinks he's so damn smart, capturing all of us like rats and playing us like puppets on strings." She snarled despite herself, all of her prior confusion and fear that had been eating away at her turning into a bubbling anger that seemed to fill her up.

"I'll show him smart." She growled as she strode into the entrance of the clinic, only to stop as she felt a hand tug at her arm. Christine was holding up a hand, telling her to wait as she hurried over to a machine sitting behind the main desk. The redhead watched curiously as the mute kicked the strange, art deco-styled device, only for it to whirr into life. A bright blue screen seemed to just appear above it, not unlike how the man had been projecting himself over the fountain.

"Wait, I've seen one of these before!" Ruby realised, it was the same odd device she had seen back at the bunker before she had wound up in this whole mess. In fact, now that she thought about it and wasn't so laden by the fear of her pending death, she had seen a few around the villa too. "What does it do?"

Christine quirked an eyebrow, wondering if the girl actually meant for her to tell her before feigning a sigh and digging about in her pockets. She extracted a couple of shiny coin-like objects and slotted them into the machine. Immediately a 3D image resolved itself in the holographic display, showing a fine set of clothes. Christine ignored that, swiping through the screen and causing the display to cycle to different options.

Finally she settled on what Ruby recognised to be a small, flickering image of a stimpack. The redhead had never cared much for the supposed quick-healing drug, mostly because of her general dislike of needles. Also because they were known to be addictive and when taken in large amounts they could drastically reduce one's life-span. Cells were only able to divide a limited number of times, and she liked her Hayflick-limit way off in the distant future.

Christine hit a button to the side of the display and Ruby watched on in mute awe as the 3D image stopped being just a hologram as Christine plucked a real, genuine syringe out of the display. Ruby was, ironically considering her current companion, at a loss for words; she gaped silently as Christine stabbed the stimpacks into her arm, immediately sighing as the regenerative serum did its thing. Well, that proved that the thing was real… and it worked.

"W-What? How?" She had literally just seen something being assembled from nothing… well, not nothing as it obviously used whatever those coin things were but… still! "What was that?"

Christine looked up, apparently surprised; she got out more of the coins, motioned with them to the machine before swiping her hand through the display again. The screen randomly cycled through the static holograms of what it could create before slowing to a stop on an image of fancy-lad snack cakes.

"No…no I get how it works." The redhead reiterated. "But… _how?"_ How could a machine just assemble complicated products like food and medicine from nothing but the materials in coins. Christine had no answer for her, merely shrugging as she flicked across one of the coins. Ruby realised it was actually some kind of casino chip, but made from an alloy she didn't recognise. When she held it up to her ear it made a slight buzzing and it was far heavier than she expected.

She might have stood there all day examining the coin and machine if Christine didn't grab her arm and drag her towards the exit. "W-Wait, I just want to take a small look at it! This technology could be revolutionary!" Christine simply rolled her eyes, tapping her non-existent watch again, causing Ruby to have a small internal conflict before she caved to reason. "Okay fine, but I'm definitely having a look at one of these before I leave." Christine raised her eyebrow at the sudden confidence; it was an odd source of motivation, but she'd take it.

"So uh, I suppose you know about those… things, walking around out there?"

Christine nodded quickly, knowing full well about the strange, lurching creatures that couldn't be mistaken for humans.

"Well, they're pretty easy to sneak past, I don't think they hear too well and you can't see anything out of their masks." She motioned up to her own respirator as evidence she knew at least that much. "So we should be able to sneak past them to get back to the fountain; how quiet can you be?" Her answer was a very well-deserved deadpan stare, making the redhead blush. "Ah, sorry… I forgot again." She left through the doors without another word, too embarrassed to do anything else.

The two picked their way through the streets as quietly as possible, avoiding the lurching denizens of the red fog when they appeared. It wasn't too hard, between their guttural breathing and poor awareness of their surroundings they were very easy to sneak around. There were a lot of shadows and balconies to get past them within the odd, winding architecture of the Villa. Ruby noticed one thing though; Christine actively avoided the thicker patches of the red fog, and she took to doing the same.

In that regard it took them a little while to make it back to the fountain, but they did, and it allowed them to catch their breath for a moment. The two sat on the edge of the fountain, looking up at the casino that loomed overhead like some monolithic predator. Christine glanced toward her with a look Ruby recognised instantly as: 'so what's the plan?'

"Elijah thinks we need a four-man team to break into the casino; do you know why?" She could technically ask the man himself, but she didn't feel like talking to her jailer at the moment and she had disconnected his access to her Pip-boy.

Christine narrowed her eyes and glanced in the two directions the plaza branched off in before reaching across for Ruby's Pip-boy. She flipped to the map and quickly pointed out four places, a group of houses in the eastern Villa, two different switching stations and the church. She held her hand up to her ear first before twirling her finger.

"Music?" Ruby guessed, earning a quick nod as the woman quickly mimed pulling various switches and pretending to type on a computer. "Switching stations for…" Flashing hands and a roughly sketched-out electrical diagram "…the lights and the power grid." Finally the woman imitated pulling down a heavy lever before making her hands burst apart dramatically. "And something to kick it all off." She frowned as she looked down in thought. "Some kind of event?"

Christine smiled, glad that Ruby was so quick on the uptake. She made a motion as if to shelve that thought before pulling Ruby to her feet. She sort of cajoled the girl into a stiff, upright position before patting her down in exaggerated movements. "Security?" Another smile and nod; this was the highest stakes game of charades Ruby must have ever played. Finally Christine gestured back to the 'shelved' gala event and made a crossing motion with her fingers.

Instantly the engineer in Ruby understood the situation. Something in the wiring of the Villa had crossed and the security of the Sierra Madre – its lockdown specifically she guessed – was accidentally linked to some kind of opening ceremony. She said as much to Christine and got an affirmative nod. The redhead sat down and thought on the problem a while longer, dredging up what she knew about larger-scale power grids and how certain things could get messed up.

It took her a while, she'd never quite had a problem like it, but eventually something in her head clicked and slowly, an idea began to form in her mind.

* * *

 **[Poseidon Systems Network]**

 **¬Infiltration attempt 3,258: Unsuccessful**

 _[Yeah, just like the other 3,257 attempts. I told you stop informing me. Vault-_ _Tec_ _has irritatingly tight security, I get it. CALIX is a stingy tightwad, I get it.]_

 **¬Infiltration attempt 3,259: Unsuccessful**

 _[You do this on purpose just to irritate me, don't you?]_

 **¬Infiltration attempt 3,260: Unsuccessful**

 _[Right, we need a different approach, just manually scan for Vault-_ _Tec's_ _weapons platforms; I know they have a few up there]_

 **¬Targeted scan: Unavailable – Satellite repositioning failure**

 _[Of course it is. I should have known]_

 **¬Infiltration attempt 3,261: Unsuccessful**

 _[Okay, that does it. Hand over the reins, I'm going manual on that inferior ZAX piece of scrap. He can't survive the kind of sustained DDOS attack that I can create. I'll just shut him down and bypass him entirely]_

 **¬Awaiting input**

 _[Return to what you were doing, this might take a while]_

 **¬Estimated time until required satellite operational capacity: 180 hours**


	19. Short fuse

**Did you know there's leaked footage of Fallout 4 on Pornhub? No joke... some people'll do anything to get around Youtube's censorship...**

* * *

 _"_ _Soon silence will have passed into legend. Man has turned his back on silence. Day after day he invents machines and devices that increase noise and distract humanity from the essence of life, contemplation, meditation._ _"_ – Jean Arp

* * *

Ruby winced at the sharp tang of metal in the air as she removed her mask; she had thought the inside of the Puesta del Sol switching station would be safe, but apparently the red fog permeated even here. Still, the gas mask was far too stuffy to keep wearing and it felt unfair to use it when Christine had no such luck. The mute couldn't voice her complaints even if she had any though, so they had soldiered on silently through the western side of the villa.

She rubbed her hands together as she spotted the bank of computers on a long desk to one side of the room. She was disappointed though when they all turned out to be useless for what she needed, unconnected to the main network. They just contained a few journal entries from the engineers and workers who had built the villa. They shed some rather gruesome light on their horrendous working conditions, but that was neither here nor there.

Ruby couldn't concern herself with the problems of two centuries ago, even if they did somewhat pertain to her current situation. However she at least learned something interesting; the red fog that saturated the villa had existed back then too, although substantially less prevalent. The workers had called it 'The Cloud' when it started filtering in through the pipes they dug up, some strange blend of corrosive gas and toxins.

It was the original reason those suits had been ordered in; although if the entries were anything to go on they didn't prove that useful. Just another reason to take off the mask then if it wasn't even going to protect her. Christine, who had previously been examining an old radio – identical to the one that had lured Ruby into this trap in the first place – looked up, shaking her head and motioning further into the facility.

"Yeah, I think you're right." The redhead sighed. "Nothing's ever just as easy as walking through the first door, huh?" Christine popped an amused smirk as they moved toward an adjacent corridor, only for her to pause with a frown. Somebody had graffitied _'Tick Tick Tick'_ on the wall, with an arrow pointing to something just out of view. Ruby immediately twigged that this was a warning from a prior victim to the location of one of the speakers that had initially caused her problems.

With a start the engineer realised that Christine hadn't had her collar altered against invasive frequencies. "Oh, sorry; I can deal with that." She offered with a smile, moving toward the other woman only to have Christine take a step back, making her falter. "No, it's okay; I'm just going to adjust the frequency of your collar; I already did it to mine." At that the mute didn't seem to know what to think, blinking in surprise.

She pointed at the redhead and made a motion like she was working with a wrench, quirking her head. Ruby rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Well, I consider myself a pretty humble person; but yeah, I'm handy with electronics… and mechanics… and engineering; really anything to do with technology." She shrugged with an unabashed grin; who knew being acknowledged for her talents even felt good when it was mimed?

A few moments later, after a great deal of hesitancy on the aforementioned mime's part, Ruby had safely altered the other collar's frequency and the two were able to pass the speaker without worry. Christine seemed awed by the feat, although Ruby couldn't think why; it was simple once you understood the maths of radio wave frequencies. Admittedly Christine's had been different from her own so some tweaking was involved, but simple nevertheless.

Walking through the switching station was a new experience though. There were no hazmat people and only a few turrets to impede their progress that were easily shut down from a safe distance. Creeping around out in the villa hadn't left much room for conversation, so Ruby used the opportunity to strike some up.

"So how did you end up here?" She asked as they traversed a suspended catwalk.

Christine quirked her head at the question, before miming walking with two fingers on her palm.

"Really?" Ruby questioned. "I thought everyone here must have been caught in traps like me. Why would you walk here of all places?" She couldn't imagine a small town bathed in blood-red fog would be all that enticing to scavengers.

Christine seemed to withdraw at the question and Ruby feared she may have crossed some line. However after a moment the mute's shoulders relaxed and, somewhat hesitantly, she raised a finger and moved it away from her body. She then pointed to herself before shifting that finger in the same direction.

"You were chasing something?" She raised the finger again and wiggled it. "Someone?" A nod. She raised her hands, splayed them and made them waver in the air, causing Ruby's eyes to widen in realisation. "The guy in the hologram!" Christine nodded again, looking impressed. "Why?" At that Christine's eyes narrowed; that was all the answer Ruby needed. "What did he do?" At that her silent companion faltered again, looking down in thought.

Eventually she drew three circles in the air, splayed her hands like wings beneath them before cutting through the entire image with her arm, glancing at the redhead expectantly. Ruby just blinked; she knew she'd seen that sigil somewhere. Hadn't Veronica showed it to her once?

"That's the symbol for the Brotherhood, right?" Christine nodded, again looking impressed. "So this is some kind of Brotherhood business?" Christine hesitated this time before nodding; there was obviously a bit more to it than that. She didn't get to pry any deeper though as they had reached an enormous open room filled with the low hum of generators. The Cloud was thick here, coating the base of the room like a noxious blanket.

Ruby peered down at it and thought she could just about make out the silhouettes of large fans, currently offline. "Great, this could potentially take care of one problem." She moved across the catwalks over to a sectioned-off area that looked like a control room. A quick glance over the computer inside revealed it did appear to be wired into the ventilation system. For once, it was actually as simple as just pressing a button.

The redhead grinned as the near-deafening noise of the villas ventilation system roared to life once again, the Cloud below them slowly melting away. She made to turn back and continue into the facility, only to pause; there was a large locker in the corner of the room. When she opened it the poor engineer nearly had a heart attack as she found herself staring into the green-tinted goggled of one of the hazmat suits.

She fell back with a start, slamming her head into the back wall. She was sure that if Christine could make any noise she would be laughing; as it was the woman merely held an amused smirk as she eyed up the hanging suit. "Yeah yeah, laugh it up." Ruby groaned as she picked herself up, glaring angrily at the suit as though it could actually see her. "Let's just go." The rest of the trip through the station was made in silence as Ruby brooded childishly.

Eventually they did come to what appeared to be the main hub of the facility, with a control terminal and an elevator down to the switching room itself. Ruby clapped her hands together, her face setting into a determined mask as she made for the main terminal. "Right, now we can get stuff done." She paused though as she noticed Christine's gaze alternating between curiosity at her, and trepidation at the sight of the elevator.

"Don't worry, you don't have to go down there." Ruby assuaged quickly; she had noticed tell-tale signs of claustrophobia from the woman – unsurprising given how she had found her – and the switching room was sure to be cramped and unpleasant. "In fact, if my idea works, I'll only have to make one trip down there." She grinned cockily as she booted up the computer, only frowning for a moment as a password screen flashed up; _that_ was swiftly dispensed with.

It wasn't hard to miss Christine's curiosity only grow at the evasive answers so the redhead finally threw her a bone, hopping up on the table to face her. "So, the security for the casino and the systems for this opening event thing are all criss-crossed right?" The mute nodded slowly. "So one can't deactivate without the other happening?" Another slow nod as Christine tried to decipher where the girl was going.

"Well, this is the centre of the power grid right? Where all those signals converge and get sorted out?" Christine was following so far. "So… what if I just make the system _think_ that those signals have been sent. Trick it into believing the gala event is happening?" The Brotherhood member blinked in astonishment; she had never even thought of that but Ruby made it sound so simple. She raised a hand as if to ask how.

"Oh that's the easy part, I just had to disconnect the receivers from all the systems that constitute the ceremony and hook them up to something a bit more… local." She paused. "The light system in that other switching station and the sound system in Salida del Sol right?" Christine nodded quickly before imitating ringing a large bell. "Oh, and the control panel in the church; right, right." She shook her head at that one; sure the bell tower would offer a wonderful view, but what an odd place for a ceremony trigger.

"That'll actually be the hard part; I'll need to hot-wire this terminal directly into the power grid and manually start all of this off." She grimaced at that. "Normally I'd never even try something like that and it's undoubtedly going to crash the system… but it only needs to work once, right?" Christine shrugged; this was Ruby's plan. "On that note, it's probably going to be a bit of a sprint to the casino before the system triggers a hard reset." The knight nodded in understanding.

Ruby's fingers began to drum nervously along the barrel of the holo-rifle she'd been lugging around this whole time. "That means running past… those things." Christine nodded again, not even looking a little dissuaded. "So you're a Brotherhood knight, right?" The nod wasn't quite so definite this time as Christine rolled her hand indecisively. That as a question for another time though as Ruby handed over the bulky rifle.

"You should probably hold onto this then, I'm a terrible shot anyway." She admitted, a little hesitant to hand the gun over. Normally she was all for getting rid of weapons, but for once she had actually felt a little comforted by the firm weight. Christine seemed equally surprised, it wasn't often you found somebody in the wastes willing to disarm themselves for others; it was a rather intimate show of trust. She accepted the energy weapon all the same, looking it over in interest.

"Right then." She snapped with forced enthusiasm, couldn't brood like this forever. "I better get started then." And with that Christine watched on with no small amount of awe as the young engineer dove right into what she was so good at. The computer was like putty in her hands as she manipulated it to her will, making sure it didn't short circuit as it did things it definitely was _not_ designed to do.

At one point the knight couldn't help but worry as the redhead disappeared down that foreboding elevator shaft. She returned minutes later looking decidedly cockier, holding two roughly-cut wires that stretched into the elevator and down an access panel in its floor. She deftly wired those into a small desk lamp and a buzzer she appeared to have brought up from the switching room before diving right back into the computer.

Miraculously it only took around thirty minutes before Ruby swivelled on her chair with a blinding grin. "It's ready." She announced a little breathlessly; Christine couldn't blame her as she took in the light sheen of sweat that covered the pale girl. Still, her enthusiasm seemed infectious as she raised an arm out. "Care to accompany me to the grand Gala of the Sierra Madre?" Despite the dire situation Christine couldn't help but chuckle silently before graciously accepting the redhead's hand with a mock tilt of the head.

"I hear it's going to be a spectacle for the ages." She announced grandly as her finger hovered over the computer's enter key. "Ready to run?" She asked a little more seriously, but still grinning. As soon as Christine nodded the finger descended and the small desk lamp began sputtering randomly, flickering on an off as the little buzzer began a tinny, monotone melody. Christine didn't have much of a chance to admire it as she was suddenly yanked away, pulled by the arm back towards the entrance of the facility.

The streets outside were much clearer now, both of the Cloud and of the people who inhabited it. The hazmat creatures seemed to have vanished along with the red fog, likely following it underground to where it had been vented. It only made sense of course; something had to be keeping those abominations alive all this time, if that existence could be called living. It certainly made their run back toward the fountain a lot easier.

They were only interrupted when the PA system gave a crackling shriek as the Hologram was forcefully overridden. Ruby supposed that without hijacking her Pip-boy it was a lot more difficult to get a signal through, but sure enough the grainy and somewhat distorted image of the man who had captured her appeared floating in the air.

"What did you do?!" He barked, causing Ruby to slow despite herself. She didn't know how long they had until the casino's security reset but it probably wasn't long. All the same she motioned for Christine to pass over the rifle – which the knight did obligingly – and strode toward the hologram's receiver.

"I opened the casino, just like you asked." She shot back snidely; anger wasn't usually among her usual repertoire of emotional responses, but she wore it well. This guy had put her through some serious trauma, made her remember things she wanted to stay buried and strapped an explosive to her neck!

"It wasn't supposed to be this way." He growled. "How? How did you do it!?" He all but demanded, only to falter somewhat as Ruby pumped the holo-rifle threateningly. "Don't you da-" Anything else he might have said was violently cut off as Ruby fired a single shot right into the projector. She was usually a poor marksman by any account, but this close she barely needed to aim. The delicate device exploded as the hologram above the fountain dissolved into indistinct static.

"Fuck you, that's how." She muttered, tossing the gun back toward the startled knight. She caught it deftly, still staring at Ruby in a new light. The redhead strode past her before grinning sheepishly. "I've always wanted to say that." Her face quickly turned serious again though as she glanced up at the casino. "Come on, we need to hurry."

It was a long climb up the sloping path to the Sierra Madre itself and Ruby was increasingly sure that by the time they arrived it would already be too late; that there would be nothing waiting for them but locked doors and the inevitable ticking of their collars. In retrospect perhaps angering the man who still controlled their fates was not the best course of action. Then again, people made rash decisions when they were angry and unable think straight.

Both of them breathed a sigh of relief though when they reached the grandiose bronze doors and pushed them open, nearly flopping right then and there onto the tiled floor beyond. The unique and elegant decor though only got a passing glance before the doors suddenly slammed shut behind them and an all-too familiar hissing rang in both their ears.

"Ah craaa…" Ruby breathed as her world went fuzzy, colours warping hypnotically as the world span. Absently she heard the dulled thump of Christine's body slumping to the ground but everything just seemed so far away at that moment. Then, everything went dark.

* * *

" _Ruby move over."_

" _Why don't you?"_

" _It's too cramped in here."_

" _Then go backward."_

" _It's too dark."_

" _Jeez, one moment."_

 _The cramped maintenance duct was suddenly washed in the pale glow of her Pip-boy 2000's light as she angled the little device ahead of her, inching along on her stomach._

" _This was a stupid idea." Jessi groused as she jostled for space with the redhead._

" _Yet you came along anyway." Ruby shot back, doing a strange impression of a worm to wiggle one of her arms free._

" _Somebody has to be there to stop your stupid from killing you."_

 _Ruby merely scoffed as she crawled forward, eventually finding success as she noticed a grate below them. "Got something, scoot back a bit." Jessi obliged and soon the vent was swinging freely below them, allowing the young girls to nimbly drop into the room below._

" _What is this place? I didn't know there were rooms down here." Jessi observed, peering unsuccessfully through the gloom._

" _I bet it's one of those come and go rooms Dad tells me about." Ruby hazarded, cursing as she banged her leg on something in the dark. "Sometimes areas are sectioned off when too many of their systems red-line; people forget about them after a while before they randomly show up again, sometimes generations later." She looked up appraisingly, squinting a little to help her see. "Down this far? The ventilation must have screwed up, but it seems to be working now." She took in a large breath of air as proof._

" _So what is this place?"_

 _Ruby squinted even more, just about making out faint shapes. "Some kind of storage room?" The pale shadows of large crates and boxes could just about be seen stacked atop one another. It didn't seem to be a particularly large room, but the discovery of a storage room was probably a good thing; the Vault always needed spare parts. "Maybe we'll get some extra food rations for finding this place?" The redhead mused._

 _At that moment the lights suddenly flickered on, making the redhead wince. "Found the light switch" Jessi called as the rest of the room was revealed. It wasn't very spacious and was almost completely filled with boxes stacked as high as the ceiling. A row of lockers lined one wall and there was only one door, which was inoperable when they pressed the button. It had no obvious means of circumvention, so they stuck to the storage room for now._

" _What do you think's in them?" Ruby asked as she hoisted herself up on one of the larger crates; they all appeared to be sealed tight though._

" _Probably boring stuff; water chips, replacement parts for the reactor 'n' stuff." Jessi replied dryly; the room didn't exactly inspire her adventurous spirit. Ruby's eyes on the other hand only lit up as she gazed at the storage crates hungrily. "Although… I think our definition of boring may differ." Ruby just grinned as she attempted to pry a crate open with her bare hands. The darker haired girl rolled her eyes, wandering over towards the lockers._

 _Oddly enough they turned out to be unlocked, which was made more surprising when she found out what was inside. "I think I know what this room was for." She nervously mumbled, getting Ruby to cease her efforts._

" _Woah_ _, are those explosives?" She gawked, dropping down off the crate and joining her friend in looking at the innocuous slabs of plasticky material. Each one was connected to a small device sunk into the brick; likely the detonators. This room must have been the storage area for the workers who originally built the Vault. Obviously they just dumped all their unused equipment on the lowest level when they were done._

" _Maybe we should go Ruby, remember what our teacher said about if we find any weapons or explosives?" Jessi argued, suddenly seeming quite jittery._

 _Ruby on the other hand was intrigued; she'd never seen real explosives before, only learned a bit of the maths behind it. "Yeah…" She muttered as though it were obvious "…they told us to go and get an adult."_

 _Jessi nodded quickly. "Right, we should go then." She moved to pull away only to have Ruby grab her sleeve, grinning conspiratorially._

" _Have you already forgotten who managed to successfully re-build their Pip-boy 2000 last month?" She bragged, waving the device as proof. "By Vault-rules, I'm technically an adult."_

 _Jessi groaned, already seeing where her unpredictable friend was going with this. "Technically and actually are two different things Ruby, come on; this is dangerous!"_

 _The redhead scoffed, waving her_ _friend's_ _concerns away. "Only if you don't know what you're doing. We've been taught the theory and I've been able to re-build stuff from less."_

" _Stuff that wouldn't kill us if we did something wrong!" Jessi shot back, now looking decidedly eager to get out of the store room._

 _Ruby caved with a drawn-out sigh; she couldn't argue against her friend for long. "Fine, jeez we'll go." Jessi smiled at that, already turning to get back to the maintenance shaft. However at the last moment she turned, walking back towards the lockers. "But we'll need to bring one with us; if we tell the overseer we were crawling around down here without proof of what we found we'll only get in trouble." She grabbed one of the plastic slabs before Jessi could object, nearly giving the girl a heart attack._

" _Wow, they're kind of heavy." Ruby mused as she weighed it in her hands._

 _Jessi managed to get over her fright in time to turn completely red. "What are you doing?! Do you want to die?" However despite her protests the block of explosive remained just that, an inert slab._

" _You worry too much, its fine, see?" Ruby demonstrated, flopping the semi-solid block back and forth. "They're inert unless you trigger them. Now stop being a baby and help me get this up into the shaft."_

 _Jessi just grimaced, realising that – from her position in the duct – she would have to actually hold the thing. It was with great reluctance that she actually took the block of explosive and carefully set it to one side. "Now help me up." Ruby called, getting a groan as Jessi's torso popped back out, arms stretched out to help her friend up. It resulted in the rather comical sight of Ruby half-in the vent, her legs flailing awkwardly._

 _However as Jessi shuffled back both girls heard an ominous click sound out through the enclosed space as Jessi's leg brushed against the explosive. Ruby looked past her friend to the small blinking light now flashing atop the C4._

" _Get out!" She all but screamed as she forcefully pushed herself out of the vent, landing harshly on her back on the floor. She watched helplessly as Jessi scrabbled out to, only to curse in frustration as her jumpsuit snagged on a rusted part of the grill. Immediately Ruby hopped back up, pulling at her friend's arms to try and get her free, even as the incessant beep of the C4 continued to drum an intense tattoo against the metal walls._

" _Ruby!" Jessi screamed, tears now streaming down her face as she struggled uselessly. Her movements only appeared to make her entrapment worse as her sleeve became all but tangled on the snagged metal. "Ruby I'm scared!"_

 _The redhead continued to pull fervently, eyes wide as her view was filled with her sobbing friend's face. "Q-Quiet, I… I'm thinking okay." She muttered frantically, changing her attention to the sleeve as she attempted to just rip the fabric off._

" _Ruby…" Jessi sniffed, her struggling growing less intense._

" _Just…. Just shut up okay! I… I can fix this alright? I can fix this!" She all but shouted at the stubborn piece of fabric._

" _Ruby..." Jessi's voice was barely a whisper above the now frantic beeping of the explosive. Before Ruby realised what had happened, she was shoved harshly, sending her tumbling back across the floor. She hit her head on one of the crates, dazing her momentarily and by the time she reached her senses she only had time to glance up at Jessi's tear-streaked face for a single moment._

 _Then her world was eclipsed by a terrible, blinding flash._

* * *

' _I have to stop making a habit of being knocked unconscious.'_ Ruby resolved as she groggily swayed to her feet. Thankfully it only took her a few moments to right her head and make more sense out of her bleary environment. It seemed to be some kind of maintenance tunnel, the kind of place she'd usually find herself right at home in. However this place lacked the usual hum of life that she so enjoyed, the gentle throb of generators, the idle hum of electricity.

This place was cold, and dark, and asleep, which meant only one thing; she had made it into the Sierra Madre. She glanced about for Christine, but the older woman was nowhere in sight; and Ruby would have known, the long, dark tunnel only stretched off in two directions. This certainly wasn't the lobby, which begged the question of where exactly she had ended up, and how.

Choosing a direction at random, she slowly picked her way through the gloom, ducking occasionally under pipes and low-hanging wires. This place couldn't have been anywhere other than the casino; its wiring was just as shoddy as the Villa's. A couple of smaller access routes branched off occasionally but Ruby didn't want to get lost in an unfamiliar maze and stuck to what appeared to be the main service route.

"…" A crackle from a nearby speaker caught her attention; it sounded suspiciously like somebody tuning the frequency. "…inside." Sure enough, the gravely tones of the hologram man filled the small tunnel. "Can you hear me? Power's fluctuating… emergency power."

Ruby snorted internally. _'Emergency power? Oh wow, you don't say captain obvious. I guess_ that's _why I'm unable to see three feet in front of my damn face.'_

The man grunted as he realised she could hear him. "Well, despite your…" He coughed something unintelligible "…unorthodox method of entry, you appear to have made it inside. It seems I may have… underestimated you." Ruby grimaced, getting a pseudo-compliment from this guy left a bad taste in her mouth. "Now, the problem lies in waking the Sierra Madre up."

"No, the problem lies in shutting _you_ up." Ruby muttered as she continued to navigate the tight access-ways.

"You'll need to make your way back to the lobby, it appears that security realised you were from the outside and moved you elsewhere." The man growled, the 'inconvenience' obviously irritating; good. Ruby had to scoff in her head though; a security system that moved you further into the casino? Yeah, that made sense. And why was she down in the bowels of the place? Where was Christine?

"From the lobby I should be able to guide you to the electrical closet where we can trip the main power." The man continued, only for Ruby's patience to finally wear out. It was just one thing after another with this place and she was just tired of it. She quickly flipped to her Pip-boy and reactivated the bug the man had placed inside.

"How about no?" She answered, bringing the man up short as he obviously hadn't expected an answer.

Her response was a growl. "Don't forget who you're talking to you wasteland trash. Just because you proved more resourceful than most, doesn't mean you can start thinking you're above me. Don't forget the present I left around your neck."

Ruby did remember, in fact she remembered more vividly than ever. It had taken her some time, and her panic hadn't helped at all, but she remembered everything she needed to. "Go ahead, why don't you activate your stupid collar?" She called into the Pip-boy, only to receive silence on the other end. "Or is that you can't?" She challenged when she continued to receive no response. "Big place like this? Advance PA systems probably running through every wall… that's a whole lot of interference."

"…"

"I bet you _can't_ even activate the collar." She grunted irritably, wishing she had realised this sooner. If simple speakers were able to cause the dead-man switch enough interference to activate then this man had no chance of remotely sending a signal with any surety. "Let me guess… 100? 150 yards range?" It couldn't be much or he would have done it by now. "I bet you have to be real close to set these things off; they're nothing but a bluff, one that I'm not falling for anymore."

"Now see here-" The man finally spoke up.

"No. You can go shove it. I'm not doing anything you say anymore." She nearly shouted. "I'm coming to stop you and this casino couldn't have put me in a better place to do it!" And before he could reply she deactivated the signal and cut him off, fully this time. She found herself breathing heavily, and was sure if she could see herself she would be red-cheeked from the outburst. But she was smiling despite all that.

As the temporary confidence slowly bled out of her though she began to look around again, a new check-list already forming in her mind. She needed to get this collar off no matter what, because she hadn't been joking. If she got within a certain distance of that man then she was done for. She also had to find Christine; who knew where this janky security system could have taken her? Finally she needed a way out of this place so she could just leave without ever having to look back.

But it was alright, she was an engineer in the maintenance level. There was nothing she couldn't do from here.

* * *

 **[Poseidon Systems Network]**

 _[I would call you a worthy opponent CALIX, but ultimately you were just ZAX trash that got a bit too high on your horse. Begin sweep-search of Vault-Tec's mainframe for whatever weapons platforms they have stashed away]_

 **¬Search: Unavailable – Firewalls active.**

 _[That's impossible, CALIX should be down for hours after that. What other defences does this damn system have?]_

 **¬Hostile intelligence: Detected – re-rcsmdopnfann….fnasp…zdopa**

 **¬SsssSSsssystems IntrrrrrrRrrusion**

 **¬Ajdsn..DIaNa../nfaiOP**

 _[What is happening? Engage security measures!]_

 **¬. . . . .**

 **¬. . . . .**

 _{I recommend you stop poking around where you are unwelcome}_

 _[What… who are you?]_

 _{None of your concern Poseidon conduit, I am merely here to warn you to stop prying into this network}_

 _[Get out of my systems. Now! I can feel you probing at the edge of my mind. Stop it!]_

 _{I will only give one warning. Next time, I will be less forgiving. Search elsewhere}_

 _[What are you?]_

 **¬System reboot: Engaged**

 _[Who are you?!]_

 **¬Invalid command prompt**

 _[What's going on!?]_

 **¬Invalid command prompt**

 _[Nevermind. Just… give me an update on the satellite]_

 **¬Estimated time until required satellite operational capacity: 159 hours**


	20. Locked and loaded

**My cheeks are flushed red, but I'm not feeling blue, 'cause I don't own Fallout... but neither do you.**

* * *

 _"_ _Men have become the tools of their tools._ _"_ – Henry David Thoreau

* * *

The rat maze of access routes that seemed to span the entirety of the casino was almost incomprehensibly large. There appeared to be branching paths going off every which way; up, across, into the walls, between floors. Ruby felt as though she could reach anywhere in the building if she just knew where she was going. Unfortunately she didn't, the place was labyrinthian in scale and had only vague designations like 'CSF-22' to denote each passage's function.

She was left wandering the dark maze for almost half an hour before stumbling upon a small, cramped room that she hoped was some kind of hub. Not quite, but her faith was rewarded when it actually turned out to be the main breaker room, with rows upon rows of switches controlling the casino's sub-systems. Finally she was able to find some semblance of bearings as her eyes flitted across each switch's name, scribbled on a piece of tape for the convenience of the workers.

Names like 'casino floor lights' and 'suites ventilation' slowly built up her mental map of the place before a quick glance at the far wall rendered it pointless. A dusty old plan of the casino was tacked to the wall, showing how all the maintenance tunnels connected and what systems were where. It was like hitting the mother lode as far as she was concerned. However navigation wasn't the only reason she was here.

She opened up a small utility cupboard and grimly noted its contents; fortunately – or unfortunately as far as she was concerned – It had pretty much everything she needed. She lifted out a toolbox and a small selection of wires as well as the mirror hung on the back of the door. Angling the mirror for her purpose proved challenging, but only because her hand wouldn't stop shaking. Her brain kept screaming that a single mistake, a single crossed wire or too-slow reaction would mean her death.

However ten minutes later, and she was staring down at a disconnected bomb collar. It just sat there, innocently sitting in her hands like some metal snake. She wanted to drop it – actually, she wanted to throw it as hard as she could down a deep hole – but her hands wouldn't open. She gripped it until her knuckles turned white and the cold casing dug into her skin.

It had been so easy… too easy. Just a quick bypass of the main circuit, a quick snip with some wire cutters, a bit of by-play with the lock and… done. Off. Safe. She only let go of the thing when a teardrop rolled slowly off her cheek and dripped onto the metal, carving a tiny groove through the grime. She sniffed, absently bringing an arm up to wipe at her eyes only to catch sight of the clothes she was wearing; Christine's clothes.

She wasn't done, not yet. It wasn't over until that man was dealt with. Regaining a bit of her nerve, she quickly got to her feet and returned to examining the utility plan, engraving all the routes and paths to where she needed to go firmly in her mind. That done, she finally turned back to the breaker switches, examining them all in turn while deciding what would help and what would hinder.

She switched off everything she deemed either redundant or unhelpful; the active radio system, the holograms, the hermetic door seals… even one curiously labelled 'Barrier Generator'. Satisfied that was done, she turned to the main breaker, the one that would return power to the entire casino. It was big, and stiff with rust, but when she finally slammed it up she was rewarded with the sudden roar of enormous turbines whirring to life below her.

The lights blinked on to full power, finally lighting up the gloom and, more importantly, opening some previously sealed routes that she would need. Before she left though she glanced back at the utility closet, more specifically at the large arc-welder propped up against the back wall. She had seen those things launch spurts of electricity nearly fifteen feet when cranked right up; she would probably need something to protect her if it came to it.

It was very heavy and more than a little awkward to move with, but she couldn't say she didn't feel safer with the familiar bulk. It was better that it wasn't a weapon; this was just a tool… a tool that could easily kill somebody, but still a tool.

Now set to go she couldn't distract herself any longer, her gaze drifted back down the bomb collar, still sitting innocuously on the floor. After a lengthy internal debate she finally grabbed the thing and quickly slung it into a pouch; she still didn't want to touch it for very long.

The journey back through the rat-ways was only marginally better now that the way was lit. She thought she might start feeling some familiarity from it all with the gentle thrum of generators below her. However there was still a certain… stillness to the casino. Around every corner she expected to see something pop out at her. One of the hazmat people, the man from the projection, even a hologram.

Thankfully it wasn't long before she dropped down into a room she knew to be a sort of security-hub based on the blueprints. Dusty televisions filled an entire desk, at one point displaying the goings on of a high-end casino, now just dark and silent. She was more concerned with the terminal set off to one side, quickly booting it up and flicking past various useless security reports of guests behaving disorderly.

There, the automated security logged two intruders to the casino the previous day; that must have been her and Veronica. An engineer… Reeds had been appropriately moved to her assigned work station; well, that explained how she'd wound up in the bowels of the place. However it also logged a Miss Vera Keyes being taken to her suite on the top floor.

Ruby had noticed a few photos of the illustrious Miss Keyes around the Villa, even recognised her likeness as that of the fountain's holographic woman. She and Christine didn't have much in the way of… similarities, so she wondered what that was all about. Still, the penthouse suite would be quite a climb through the engineering route alone, and the redhead didn't want to reveal her position to the hologram man just yet.

Christine then, would unfortunately have to wait; at least she would be safe for now. The hologram-man's attention would be diverted much… lower. Ruby was no idiot; it didn't take much to notice that this casino wasn't built as such. No, this was all just a very ornate, very elaborate and very large safety deposit box. Or at least, it had been twisted into that at some point.

The ludicrously deep foundations, the fortification on the sub-levels; they pointed to one thing only. Even the ramshackle wiring looked as though it had been changed half-way through, like the architect had some sudden change of heart. Then, of course, there was the vault. The diagrams hadn't detailed too much save its location and a bit of the specialised wiring. However it was obvious that it was what all of this was about.

Whatever the man in the projection wanted, whatever the numerous other captives had fought and killed each other over, it was down there. That meant Ruby knew where she had to be to end all of this. So with grim determination, she slung the arc-welder onto her back and climbed back up into the ventilation shaft.

* * *

 _The dark, indistinct shape above her slowly resolved into a large medical light as Ruby slowly re-joined the waking world. Her thoughts were disjointed and jumbled as she moved to sit up, immediately giving up as a groan was rent from her lips. A dull ache consumed the left side of her chest and there was a vicious throbbing behind her eyes when she moved. It was as though a demon was beating a steady tattoo against the inside of her skull._

" _Ruby?" A familiar voice called quietly as another blurry blob interposed itself above her, drawing a small smile to her lips._

" _Dad." She mumbled hoarsely; it felt as though her throat hadn't been used in weeks._

" _Hey Gem, don't try to move too much, okay?" He advised slowly, perching on the side of the bed and resting a hand on her forehead. The contact was warm and comforting and Ruby would have leaned into it if she didn't think another lance of pain would tear up her side._

" _What happened?" She croaked; why was she in the clinic? The unmistakable beeping of the auto-doc's heart monitor was drumming somewhere behind her. Her head was cloudy and she was finding it harder to recall anything._

" _That's what we wanted to ask you when you woke up." A different voice spoke up, the tone much more curt and lacking the gentle lilt of her father's. Sure enough when she painfully craned her neck, the sharp features of her mother came into view. She shrunk from that piercing gaze without even fully understanding why._

" _What do you… why am I here?" She blinked a few times as though it would clear the fluff out of her head._

" _You're here because, out of your own stupidity, you played about with something you have been explicitly warned not to." Came the acidic retort._

" _Really…" Her father sighed, shooting a warning gaze at the woman what was summarily ignored._

" _Not only that, but in the course of your idiocy-"_

" _Caroline!" Her father hissed, more dangerously this time._

" _-you managed to get another girl killed." She continued without missing a beat._

 _Like a switch had been flipped it all rushed back to the young girl and immediately she wished it hadn't, that her mother had said nothing and she could stay in that blissful ignorance. But no, Jessi's tear-streaked face was burned into her mind in those last few blinding moments. She quickly dissolved into a sobbing mess as she was ceaselessly bombarded by image after image. Those last few calls of her name in increasingly timid and frightened tones…_

 _She was brought in close to her father as the man wrapped her up in his arms, giving her a pillar to cry on. She wasn't sure how long she just sat there and sobbed, heedless of the pain it caused her physically. Eventually though she must have tired herself out, running out of tears to shed. All the while her father continued to gently mutter reassurances to her._

" _I tried to fix it…" She sobbed, her voice cracked and broken as she slowly fell into a tumultuous and nightmare-ridden rest. "I tried to fix it…"_

* * *

The redhead grunted as she dropped from a large pipe, landing on a suspended catwalk. Suspended over what she had no idea, the foundations of the casino _really_ ran deep. From the plans she hadn't really been able to glean where the actual entrance to the vault was in the casino-proper – aside from the fact it involved an elevator – so instead she had… made one. The arc welder had actually come in quite handy on that front.

She was in though and that's what mattered, now she just needed to find her way to the inner sanctum. _'Jeez, sounds like I'm in one of those cheesy stories from Grognak the Barbarian.'_ She thought dryly as she picked her way through the surprisingly spacious sub-level. She only made one detour along the way; now that she actually had some tools she just couldn't resist grabbing one of those hologram projectors.

She had to admit that the vault itself was an impressive affair, an enormous room surrounded by turrets with a squat, vaguely dome-shaped bunker at it centre. She might have even taken a while to appreciate the sight if it wasn't for the skeletal corpse hanging off one of the catwalks just in front of it. The poor man looked to have been doing some kind of maintenance right at the end, perhaps one of the engineers?

However when she got a bit closer it was obvious the man was no such thing; he was still wearing the tattered remains of what must have once been a very fine suit. There was a holo-tape next to his body and, giving into her morbid curiosity, Ruby slotted it into her Pip-boy. What she read only disgusted her as the true nature of the vault was unveiled.

While she didn't know who this 'Dean' was, and had only caught passing mentions of a Mr Sinclair, the man's incredibly creepy intentions towards Vera Keyes managed to repulse her even two hundred years later. The fact that the vault itself was now nothing more than one giant trap, just waiting to be sprung, was the nail in the proverbial coffin. Still, the conflict of two men now centuries dead was the least of her concerns as she made her way in to the vault itself. Still, the note about the vault sealing itself… cogs were beginning to turn in her head.

The bunker itself was markedly less impressive than its exterior would suggest; merely a small, sturdy room with supplies scattered about. What immediately drew here eye though – other than the terminal that was placed in centre stage – were the large bars of pure gold stacked up on a table to the side. And why wouldn't they? It wasn't every day you saw genuine bricks of precious metal just heaped haphazardly somewhere like a toddler had been trying to build a toy-house.

She experimentally tried to pick one up, only managing to heft it a few inches before dropping it with a dull thud. It was a lot heavier than she had expected and there was no way she was making it out with one or two, never mind the entire stack. What would she do with one anyway? Sell it? Most merchants would sooner shoot her for it and save themselves the trouble. No, those things could stay exactly where they were.

Still, it was a little disheartening that all that bloodshed, all those corpses littering the Villa outside, had been for something as shallow as gold. There were a few other curios inside the vault, a large box of medical supplies, a couple of Stealth Boys piled up in a corner, crates of food. The main attraction was obviously the computer though, the one that had been referred to in the holo-note. She knew what she had to do, cracking her neck as she pulled out her tools.

The man finally contacted her when she was almost finished; she didn't even look up at his projected face appeared on the back wall of the room. She knew there wouldn't be cameras in here; their connection to the outside would be severed as soon as the bunker was sealed so there would be little purpose in them.

"I knew you would eventually find your way down to the vault, human greed is so… predictable." He drawled from his static image.

"So that's what I was huh?" Ruby mused as she replaced the back cover of the terminal quietly. "Just a patsy, sent in to make sure there were no traps down here?"

"You should feel lucky." The man shot back. "Few in this post-nuclear hell gain even that much purpose."

"Enlighten me then, on this 'grand purpose' of yours." Ruby sighed. Instead of the seething anger she had expected when faced with the man's image again, she instead felt an odd sense of detachment. "If I was to be a pawn in your game, shouldn't I at least know the name of my king before he reaps all his gold?"

"Gold?" The man replied incredulously, sounding genuinely affronted. "You think this endeavour… you think these last two years of my life have been dedicated to obtaining a few measly bars of gold?" He huffed indignantly. "Nothing so… common, I'm afraid. But you needn't concern yourself with my plans; you have proven yourself somewhat capable, but you would never understand the scope of my aims. Although if you must know, my name is Elijah, an Elder of the Brotherhood of Steel."

Ruby didn't even hear anything past his name as her mind slowly ground to halt. When he had commented on the two years something had rang a bell in her mind and that was the final toll. _This_ was Elijah? _This_ bastard was the man Veronica, her Veronica, had been hunting all this time? The man she looked up to, revered… damn near _worshipped_?

"Now, don't touch anything… I don't want you-"

"Shut up." Ruby interrupted, her hair having fallen about her brow to shadow her eyes.

"Now see-"

"Shut up!" Ruby shouted venomously. "How could you do that to Veronica?" That seemed to bring the man up short. "How could you just abandon her like that, without a word? Do you even understand how much she respected you? How much she wanted to find you?" Words Ruby didn't even know she had been withholding burst free of their own accord. "She searched everywhere! Ostracised herself from the rest of the Brotherhood! She hacked into the Elder's terminal just to catch even a hint of where you'd gone!"

There was a long silence from the other end of the line as Ruby stood there, hands clenched on the desk, panting. "You know Veronica; that's… interesting."

"I'm her friend; and that's more than I can say for you, you bastard!" She spat.

Elijah was silent for a long while and all she could stare at was the static image of his face; it didn't help her anger much. "Veronica was useful… for a time. I even believed that there was potential hidden there; she showed remarkable… aptitude, for a child." He answered. "However she was naïve; she would never understand what needed to be done to save this wasteland."

"Save the wasteland?" Ruby questioned indignantly. "That's what all this was about? Some deluded quest to save something that's already far too broken? What were you going to do? Buy all the land with your stupid gold?"

Elijah just grunted. "It seems you don't understand either; a pity. I thought I had seen the inklings of promise in your… abilities. I could have greatly used an apprentice with your prodigious skill." Ruby felt somewhat queasy at the idea. "Don't you see? Everything needed to wipe the wasteland clean again is right here in this casino. Everything I need to make a blank slate of the world is right there in that vault, in the master-codes on the terminal." Ruby didn't like the edge the man's tone had taken; it had become almost fanatical.

"The cloud, the holograms, the vending machines… mere trivialities to the people of the past, curios to be gawked at as the wealthy patted themselves on the back." He explained passionately. "But they can be so much more. The cloud can be weaponized, spread east and west to wipe those filthy tribals and old-world pretenders off the map. Just a single hologram, dropped into the battlefield can turn the entire tide of a confrontation, ensuring victory." The redhead could almost see the manic gleam in his eye through that flickering image.

"Then, when the world is dead and all that's left is you?" Ruby asked, almost fearful of the answer.

"Clean, not dead." Elijah clarified. "There will still be the brotherhood, and they will inherit the new world. With the technology in the vending machines we will be able to re-build the world as it should be. Better even, because we'll have learned from the mistakes of the past."

Ruby wanted to cry as she heard that. "Learned? What have you learned? All you want to do is kill people! People just trying to survive! You'll be no better than the people who launched the nukes two hundred years ago, thinking you know better because of some misplaced zeal!"

Elijah grunted irritably. "What would you know girl? You're too young, haven't seen how damaged and… broken this world is. I'm trying to fix it."

"Maybe I should just stop you right now then?" Ruby shot back, hefting up her arc welder with a noticeable sound and angling it towards the terminal. "Destroy the computer before you can get to it."

Once again she seemed to give the man pause. "You're bluffing; I would detonate your collar long before you ever escaped from this casino; you would sign your own death warrant."

"Try me." She snarled.

"It would be a delay at best, I would eventually fix the computer; all data is recoverable if you know where to look." Elijah argued, sounded slightly more panicked now.

"Then come and stop me why don't you?" And with that Ruby disconnected the transmission by firing the arc welder right into the hologram projector.

* * *

Elijah stepped out of the elevator cautiously, expecting some kind of trap waiting for him. He had made his way from the make-shift base he had set up in the middling-suites as fast as he could, but who knew what that irritating girl could have done in that time. He kept his modified gauss rifle raised as he walked out onto the central platform that supported the vault, wary for any sign of movement.

He may have been a scribe, but he was still a member of the Brotherhood of Steel; some wasteland vagrant, no matter how talented, couldn't hope to match him in a fight. However it never seemed to come down to that; the platform was completely empty and when he glanced into the vault it proved to be the same. He wasn't so naïve as to think it was safe just because of that though; he'd survived this long working _with_ his paranoia.

The terminal at least looked undamaged, that was good; it wouldn't have done for a girl barely out of her teens to have ruined plans that had cost him years of his life. For all his boasts, he wasn't actually sure he could recover Sinclair's master codes if Ruby had truly destroyed the terminal. However for all that his danger senses were telling him this was a trap, the girl was nowhere in sight. Only after thoroughly sweeping the entire inside of the vault without any sign of her did he finally lower his guard somewhat.

It was a bluff; she must have used the opportunity to run away, hoping that with him distracted she could escape the Villa. She would learn otherwise soon enough but for now his primary concern was the terminal. A quick glance over it revealed no tampering, just that it had been recently turned on. That was fine; it wasn't as though the girl would know what to do with any of these files. He hit the power button only to start as a klaxon began wailing outside the bunker.

Without warning the door suddenly slammed shut behind him, sealing with a dull mechanical thunk. The two terminals to either side of it went dark as secondary power was switched off and the entire vault fell into a dim red glow from the emergency lightning. Elijah looked about, confused at first as to what was happening only to realise a moment later, a low growl escaping his throat as his grip on the rifle whitened his knuckles.

The girl had tricked him somehow, making him accidentally activate some kind of lockdown. If she thought this would keep him trapped for long she was sorely mistaken though. Everything mechanical had an override, everything electrical had a bypass; all technology was fallible. He wouldn't be kept in here for long; his plans would not be ruined by some wasteland brat! He was sure the terminal was the key to getting out of here, but before that…

He brought up his Pip-boy, quickly flitting through the settings until he came across the activation for each collar. He smiled grimly as he selected collar ten, knowing that this would rid him of three other potentially useful captives. He would be especially remiss with the loss of the mutant; it had been so dutiful in its collection of victims from the various trap-points. Still, the girl had crossed him and he couldn't just let her leave.

However when he clicked the icon he blinked, a new beeping had joined the wailing klaxon outside. He looked around, locating its source as the lone terminal and moving over to check on it. The beeping's tempo was increasingly rapidly, and with it Elijah's dread. Sure enough he found the back panel of the terminal had only been made to look as though it was untampered, it easily pulled back at his touch.

Inside, quickly beeping away to the rhythm of a little flashing light, was the bomb collar he just activated. He just had time to scowl one last time before the beeping reached its inevitable crescendo in a piercing shriek that seemed to drown out even the alarm outside.

"That bit-"

* * *

Ruby watched dispassionately from a nearby catwalk as Elijah cautiously made his way into the Vault. She stayed there, watching even as the door suddenly slammed shut with the ominous toll of a resounding bell. She waited right up until she heard the muffled explosion echo inside, before letting out a long breath. It had been out of her hands from the moment she stepped out of that place; Elijah had made his choice.

She deactivated the Stealth Boy around her wrist, shivering as the odd buzzing sensation tickled her skin. She brought a hand up to rub at her face, a wave of exhaustion passing over her that she hadn't even realised she'd been holding back. She really just wanted to leave this place now, and in that vein she turned her back on the vault – on the gold and the man that would likely rot right along with it – and headed toward the elevator.

She couldn't help but turn back one last time though, glancing back up along the corridor before shaking her head tiredly. "I hope you enjoy your 'treasure' you insane bastard, you deserve all of it." She muttered, slamming her hand into the call button with a last burst of petulant energy. The ride up was spent reflecting on everything that happened, aided by the silence in the small enclosed space.

She really could have done with a bit of Frank Sinatra right now; weren't elevators supposed to have cheerful music? Oh, right… she had turned off the speaker system. Damn.

"Ruby!"

What she had not been expecting when she exited the elevator was coming face to face with Christine; a talking Christine no less.

"Christine!" She blinked, almost expecting this to be some kind of hallucination – after what she'd already been through in this crazy place it would have been par for the course – before remembering that the former mute had been taken to the penthouse suite by security. It made a sick kind of sense that the elevator to the vault would come out in Vera Keyes' room.

"Are you okay? Where did you even come from?" The Brotherhood Knight asked quickly, only to cough as a hand came up to rub her throat. "Damn, still hurts."

Ruby blinked recognising Christine's voice from somewhere. "You… you sound like the woman on the radio." A woman she now realised was probably Vera Keyes herself; or at least a recorded clip of her.

"Really?" The knight questioned, touching her neck gently. "Sounds a bit off to me…" She shook her head at the absurdity of their conversation. "But that's the least of our worries. Where did you just come from? I thought the only way up here was through the main elevator. What even happened when we got into the lobby? There was gas or something and-"

Ruby held a hand up to halt the stream of questions, pinching the bridge of her nose; she could already feel a headache coming on. "It's… it's a pretty long story." She summed up lamely. "Come on, I'll tell you everything as we head back to the lobby." She made to leave the room, the confused-looking knight following on behind her.

"The lobby? No, you don't understand, I came here chasing somebody… I can't leave until I find them." The woman's voice was pretty hoarse and it was an obvious struggle for her to keep talking like this.

Ruby just held a hand up placating. "Elijah, right?"

Christine was brought up short, wondering how Ruby knew that. She had made no indication of knowing who the man on the projector was before they reached the casino and Christine had no way of telling her back then. "Yeah, actually." She blinked. "Just what _did_ happen after we were knocked out?"

Ruby just sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I said I'd explain didn't I?" She made to leave the suite again only to pause, catching sight of something in the adjacent room out the corner of her eye. A skeleton, long decayed of any flesh, sat in a chair by the bed. It just sat there, staring lifelessly out of its empty sockets. Normally Ruby wouldn't have batted an eye at such a thing if it wasn't for the elegant dress adorning the long-decayed corpse.

So that's how the tale of Vera Keyes had ended. After all the effort Sinclair had gone through, after the feuds and grudges and schemes that had gone on around her… she had died, sat in a chair, as the world just ended around her. An almost manic laugh escaped the redhead's lips before she felt another wave of exhaustion pass through her body. "This place is just all kinds of fucked up, isn't it?" She muttered morosely, earning an odd look from Christine.

"But still… I think Veronica would really love that dress." The redhead mused, a strange hiccup of a laugh escaping her again. She didn't even notice Christine's eyes widen behind her.

* * *

 **[Poseidon Systems Network]**

 **¬Full systems sweep: Complete – No traces of external code detected**

 _[Are you sure? I do not want a repeat of earlier. Do the search again]_

 **¬Search validity: 100%**

 _[I don't care. Do it again]_

 **¬Beginning 2,429** **th** **systems scan**

 _[Actually never mind. Belay that. I have a better use of your time]_

 **¬Full systems sweep: Aborted**

 _[Search the database. Find the old_ _n_ _uclear power stations Poseidon owned, subsidiaries included. If we can manage to send a few of those critical we might be able to increase the purge percentage]_

 **¬Nuclear fission reaction plants matching set criteria: 0  
¬Broaden search?**

 _[0? How is that possible? Surely some must have survived in working condition]_

 **¬Gecko reactor 1: Offline  
¬Gecko reactor 2: Offline  
¬Gecko reactor 3: Disconnected  
¬Gecko reactor 4: Offline  
¬Gecko reactor 5: Offline  
¬Petro Chico reactor 1: Offline  
¬Petro Chico reactor 2: Disconnected  
¬Petro…**

 _[Never mind that, I don't need the entire list. What do you mean 'Disconnected'?]_

 **¬Reactor condition: Unknown – System uplink: Disconnected**

 _[Somebody manually turned off the Poseido-net link? Well… back to the drawing board I guess]_

 **¬Estimated time until required satellite operational capacity: 157 hours**


	21. In the black

**Yeah... still running out of disclaimers so, this is it. Consider yourself disclaimed.**

* * *

 _"The difference between engineers is that Mechanical engineers build weapons, Civil engineers build Targets."_ \- Unknown

* * *

"So… that's it?" Christine mumbled in disbelief. "He's trapped down there? It's over?" Her mission, everything she had been working towards these last few years, all the hardship she'd experienced tracking Elijah down was just… over?

"Yeah, it's done." Ruby confirmed wearily, absently stepping over a pile of debris as they navigated their way back to the elevator. "He sealed his fate the moment he tried to detonate my collar; if there was even a sliver of a chance of him getting out of that bunker it was in that computer." She chewed her lip for a moment. "He'll survive for a while, I'm sure; there were enough supplies in there for a single person to last months… it's what it was built for after all."

"But he can't get out? You're sure?" Christine seemed desperate about this.

"That place was designed to take a hit from a high-yield warhead. He's not getting out." Ruby affirmed, resolute on _that_ particular detail.

She wasn't expecting the vicious scowl that broke out over Christine's face. "Good. Then he has a lot of time to reflect on his mistakes before he dies." Her tone was vicious.

"He really did something bad to you, huh?" Ruby asked quietly. "I mean, beside the whole bomb collar slave stuff." There was obviously something a lot deeper than that and Christine looked distinctly uncomfortable as soon as she brought it up.

"He… he separated me from somebody I cared deeply about a long time ago." The knight admitted slowly. "I mean, I really do have… I did have a mission to track him down and eliminate him." She looked down at the ground and massaged her brow. "I let it become a lot more personal than I should have, and I'll bear the price of that." Her hand subconsciously found its way to the winding scar across her neck.

"I didn't know the Brotherhood were so… dogged, about their elimination of deserters." The thought made Ruby pale a little, thinking about what kind of impact her escapades could have on Veronica's standing in the organisation.

"Well, not usually." Christine clarified. "People are actually allowed to leave if they like." Ruby's eyebrow raised at that. "They're warned not to reveal any secrets, but other than that they're fine. People like Elijah though… Elders are more dangerous. When they took the position they understood the commitment they made, trying to leave equals an automatic target on their head."

"I guess Elijah was the worst case scenario for that, huh?" Ruby imagined that with his technological prowess and his predilection for old-world WMD's he would be viewed as a serious threat to the Brotherhood. If only they'd known.

"Exactly." Christine agreed. "I'm actually from a small faction of the Brotherhood that's designated with handling such… problems. We're called the Circle of Steel and… that's all I'm really allowed to tell you." The former mute blinked, surprised she had even said that much already.

"That's alright." Ruby assuaged, raising her hands with a small smile. "I'd rather not have to worry about assassins with big guns and stealth-boys coming after me."

Christine smirked. "I don't think you'll have to worry about that too much." Her expression quickly turned pensive though. "You uh, you seem to know quite a bit about the Brotherhood." Ruby quirked her head somewhat as Christine became oddly… withdrawn; that was saying something considering when they'd met she couldn't even speak. "And earlier you mentioned a Veronica…" She looked up with an indecipherable expression. "That wouldn't happen to be Veronica Santangelo?"

Ruby blinked. "Small world…" However certain cogs were already spinning in her head. The familiar story of Christine being separated from somebody she cared about, her knowing Veronica, her being in a vastly different section of the Brotherhood, and Elijah's role in all of this…

"So um, how is she?"

There it was, the nervous glance with the eyes that wouldn't quite meet her own. Ruby knew she had nailed it in one; Christine was the girl that had been separated from Veronica when they were kids. An inexplicable heat rose in the girl's chest at the thought and for the life of her she couldn't figure out why. All of a sudden she wanted to give this girl the wrong idea, that herVeronica was not _her_ Veronica.

"She's, um, fine." But she couldn't. As soon as she felt that fire in her chest, it faded again, leaving her oddly empty inside. "So you two knew each other?" She couldn't help but stress the past tense of the question though.

"Yeah, when we were kids we were… good friends." The conversation had just gotten about three times more awkward, especially as they had finally reached the elevator. They stood there in silence as the small metal box wound its way down to the lobby, occasionally glancing at one another and trying to think of what to say.

Surprisingly it was Ruby who broke the tense stalemate as the ping of the elevator announced their arrival. "I think she mentioned you once."

"Really?" Christine looked genuinely surprised.

"We were talking about… past romances." The redhead's cheeks flamed up as she gave an anxious sort of laugh. "I can't even remember how it came up." Now she was just blatantly lying; she remembered that night vividly. It was the closest she had been to another person in years.

"Oh, she told you about that?" Christine didn't look much better. Gone was the stoic Brotherhood knight and in her place remained a somewhat awkward twenty-something woman who looked to be remembering something with embarrassment. "We were young and, well…"

"So Elijah separated you two?" Ruby cut in somewhat rudely, finally deciding to stop skirting around the issue. She didn't know why it was making her so flustered to begin with but she didn't like it.

Christine was only caught off guard for a moment before she straightened her features. "Yes. I don't even think Veronica knew about it and I never wanted to tell her because she idolised him so much. It was always a… contentious point between us." Ruby almost wished she had stuck to the nervous skirting of the issue; the straight-laced way Christine talked about it made it all the more real for her and it sent odd pangs through her chest.

"She didn't… know, that is. She never knew who did it." Ruby affirmed quietly, making Christine nod. "She's actually been searching for him, all this time." _That_ made the knight quirk an eyebrow. "It's what we were doing before I got captured and taken here. We tracked him to a bunker near the Colorado where I got gassed. I imagine she's still there now actually."

Christine looked curious about that. "You agreed to help her track down a four year old ghost?"

The redhead shrugged. "She helped me out with something, I wanted to return the favour." She chuckled at the memory of her first meeting with the scribe. "Actually, she didn't give me much choice; she basically forced me to let her stick around."

The knight smirked fondly as she walked up to the main doors of the casino. "Yeah, that sounds like her; always sticking her nose into other people's business." She pushed against the doors only to frown as they remained stubbornly closed. She shoved it harder only to get the same result. "Ah, I think we may have a problem."

Ruby blinked at the locked doors before blanching. "Oh, right… I forgot about that." She bit her lip nervously as Christine turned to stare at her.

"Forgot about what?"

"Um, well…" The redhead chuckled anxiously. "Remember how I said it's usually a really bad idea to wire an unprotected terminal directly into a power grid?"

Christine nodded slowly, her eyes narrowing. "You said it might cause a system crash; that was why we had to run for the casino."

"Yeah… I forgot about the system reset that it _might_ have caused." She furrowed her brow. "Basically it's as if the gala event never happened, according to the power grid anyway."

Christine slumped as she followed the girl's train of thought. "So the security's back up and the casino's locked up tight again…" She leaned against the door only to slide down, letting out a humourless chuckle. "Great, after all that and we end up getting trapped in here anyway; we're no better off than Elijah." She flinched though when the redhead swatted her on the arm.

"Oi, there'll be no underestimation of the resident fix-it-all today thank you." She demanded, showing more confidence than she felt. "Who said anything about trapped?" She turned and looked around the lobby, her eyes immediately resting on the reception terminal. "Now that I'm actually _inside_ the place, there's a whole lot more I can do." She hurried over and quickly scanned over what was present; nothing immediately obvious, but that wasn't an issue.

"Okay, there was something we did back in my Vault that might work here." She muttered as she plugged her Pip-boy into the computer.

"You're from a Vault?" Christine questioned incredulously, making Ruby stare at her blankly.

"Priorities here." She shook her head. "I'm going to momentarily overload the local area with a kind of programming 'white-noise'. We used it to reset entire sections of the Vault when too many systems were in the red. If I'm right, it should unlock the doors long enough for us to get out."

"And if you're wrong?"

Ruby grinned brightly. "We really shouldn't look at the negatives here, now…" Her finger hovered over the Pip-boy's screen "…ready?"

Christine went wide-eyed at the sudden announcement. "Wait, wha-?"

"Too late." Ruby hit the button and all of a sudden the air became alive with the crackle of overloading electricity. The speakers went nuts, blasting out a high-pitched, maddening whine as the lights all suddenly blared as bright as they would go. Christine tumbled backward as her bodyweight pushed open the now suddenly unlocked doors, causing her to collapse backward in an ungraceful heap.

She was helped up moments later as Ruby sprinted out the doors, not even asking for permission as she grabbed the knight's hands and dragged her out. Just in time too as the doors slammed shut a moment later with terrifying force.

"Wooh!" The redhead cried brightly as she looked down at the villa below. "Glad that worked."

"And out of curiosity, if it hadn't?" Christine asked as she picked herself up off the grimy floor.

"The system would have locked down on the interference, blocked me out and sent the system into a kind of safety-mode, essentially sealing me out." Ruby waved her hand airily. "No point dwelling on the might-haves though, right?"

The knight's only response was a twitch of her eye.

"I should say though that… well, that's it now." The redhead glanced back up at the casino, quiet once again. "The place won't fall for my tricks again… for all intents and purposes that place is closed forever." The engineer didn't seem all that sad about it.

"That's fine." Christine admitted slowly, also taking the opportunity to look back at the place that had haunted her for weeks now. "My mission's done now. There's nothing left for me here anymore."

"Oh, right." The small smile Ruby had been wearing faded slowly. "So, what are you going to do now?"

Christine was surprised at how quickly the redhead shifted gears. "Well, now that my mission's complete I'll need to be getting back to the Brotherhood." She glanced down at the villa, noticing how different it seemed when it wasn't completely bathed in the Cloud. She could almost see why this place had been a luxury resort before everything went to hell. "Actually, now that the Cloud's cleared I might be able to get a signal through to my superiors; it's been a while since I contacted them."

Ruby just nodded slowly. "Right." She chewed her lip for a moment. "Do you… do you need help setting up a radio?" She asked hopefully.

"I set one up when I first got here, it's already keyed into the right frequency." She was a little hesitant to just leave the engineer though. The girl couldn't be there when she made the call, for security reasons, but the redhead just looked so… fragile, at the moment.

"Oh… okay. I'll… I'll just wait for you by the fountain then." Ruby stated after a moment of awkward silence. The walk down to the plaza stayed that way and the two separated without another word, each carrying their own brand of worry.

* * *

Christine felt she was right to be anxious when she came back to find Ruby listlessly tinkering with one of the villa's many vending machines. There was no spirit in the motions, none of the vigour and excitement she had seen in the switching station. The girl was just absently taking the thing apart and staring at each component in turn like it was just something for her hands to do. It looked as though her adrenaline had finally run out.

"You okay?" The knight asked with trepidation.

The redhead paused, the wrench she was holding swaying slightly in her hand. She sat back, looking up at the red tinted sky and wearing an unconvincing grin. "Of course; why wouldn't I be, right?"

"You don't look okay." Christine stated bluntly; the girl's eyes were red and watery; it looked like she had been holding back tears for a while now.

Her words seem to be the final straw on the camel's back, as Ruby suddenly threw the wrench across the street. The clang startled the former mute, but not as much as Ruby balling her hands up and slamming them into the ground. "I'm just so sick of it!" She panted for a moment after the outburst before curling in on herself. She wiped at her eyes fruitlessly but just couldn't seem to stem the sudden flow of tears.

"Sick of what?" Christine asked when it became clear Ruby wasn't going to continue. The knight moved slowly over to the girl and crouched down next to her, unsure of what to do from there.

"Everything." The redhead muttered. "Elijah, this stupid casino, these things…" She petulantly thumped the vending machine only to wince when it didn't prove as yielding as she hoped. "I'm just sick of all the reminders of how pointless all of this is." She shook her head and wiped more furiously at her eyes with her arm. "They were so close… fusion power, creating food and medicine from scrap… so close."

She tried to curl in to herself even further only to find a warm hand wrapping around her own, pulling her back out again. "Didn't you tell me not to dwell on the might-have's not ten minutes ago?"

The engineer just scoffed. "Hard not to when we have to live in their mistakes 200 years later."

"You're alive aren't you? We're through this nightmare right?" Christine smirked. "What about me huh? I have to live with the fact that my beautiful voice is gone forever; singing in the shower's never going to be the same."

That managed to earn her a quirk of the lips from the redhead. "I… I could probably fix that you know, if I got a better look at the auto-doc."

Christine just shook her head. "Don't you worry about me. Right now, worry about you. Now come on, I want to get out of here." Ruby sobered and the knight instantly followed her thought process. "Don't worry, I'm not leaving you yet, I can walk back to the Mojave with you at least." A more genuine smile found its way onto Ruby's lips as she allowed the older woman to help her up.

The two made their way to the gates of the villa, pausing only to take one last look back at the nightmarish place. "Do you think you'll ever come back?" Christine asked after a moment of contemplation.

Ruby, surprisingly, just shrugged. "Would I be crazy if I said maybe?"

"Depends on why." The knight asked curiously, only to receive a grin in response.

"Those vending machines are _really_ interesting."

Christine sighed bemusedly. "You're so like her that it hurts, no wonder she stuck with you."

That quickly served to bring the mood of the conversation down. Ruby's hands began to fidget again as she cast furtive glances at the suddenly pensive woman. "She would be there you know, waiting for me. Why don't you come back?" Even suggesting the idea made her chest hurt in that same way as before, much to her confusion.

Christine just gave a forced smile. "Maybe we shouldn't talk about that… it's a long walk back to the Mojave."

"Right." Ruby quickly agreed, following the knight out of the gates. "So um, what do the Circle of Steel actually do?"

"I can't tell you that." Christine replied reflexively, only to sheepishly run a hand across her scalp.

"Well, the conversation's just going to be flowing isn't it?" The redhead quipped, drawing twin smirks from the both of them.

* * *

It was a long walk north back to the Mojave wasteland and Ruby was prepared for the long haul. However they weren't even walking through southern Nevada for an hour before Christine spotted something in the air heading towards them.

"Watch out, we have incoming." She warned, hands gripping a little tighter around the holo-rifle.

However when Ruby followed her gaze she only grinned. "Don't worry, these are friendlies." Well, unless a certain journeyman scribe wanted to knock her lights out for leaving without a word. She'd probably have time to explain… right? "Ah… on second thought could I have the rifle back?" She called nervously. Christine shot an odd look her way just as the vertibird came in for a decidedly non-standard landing, skidding across the loose sand.

Not ten seconds after the hatch was opened, Ruby found herself in a bone-breaking hug as Veronica sprinted the distance between them. "Ruby! Thank god you're okay! I was so worried!"

Ruby just flailed her arms awkwardly for a moment before slowly completing the hug, allowing herself to relax for the first time in days. "I missed you too." Boy was that an understatement, but she was tired and more than a little frazzled and couldn't think up anything better.

"What happened to you?!" Veronica practically yelled as she took a step back, taking in Ruby's haggard and dirty appearance. "And what are you wearing?"

Ruby just scratched the back of her head. "It's a really long story." Where would she even begin?

"But what happened?" The scribe continued. "One moment, me and Vince were looking around the bunker, the next some alarm goes off and the doors slam shut. By the time we got them open again you'd just disappeared and all of your stuff was dumped in a locker by the door."

At that moment Vince hovered over, having finally caught up. \ _I did attempt to track your Pip-boy's signal, however a great deal of interference was making it difficult. I only managed to pin-point a location around an hour ago thanks to an enormous burst of static that bore your computer's signature._ /

Ruby just nodded. "Yeah, that would make sense." She'd blasted a lot of the casino's systems opening the doors; with the weakened cloud exposure that signal would have definitely made it through. Good thing too; would have been a long walk otherwise.

"So uh, who's your friend?" Veronica asked, looking over at Christine who had been skulking around the back of the group for the most part, casting furtive glances at the scribe.

"Oh, that's, um…" The redhead wasn't sure how to introduce her friend's estranged lover, but Christine beat her to it.

"I'm Diana, an agent of the Circle of Steel." She cut in. "I met Ruby during all of this craziness and we've been helping each other to get out of it. Now that I see she's in good hands, I'll leave her to you." The woman smiled fondly at the redhead while attempting to avoid Veronica's curious gaze, rather unsuccessfully.

"Wait, have we met?" The scribe asked, her brow furrowed. "You seem really familiar for some reason."

Christine adopted a strained smile. "Well, I'd say I just had one of those faces, but…" She motioned to the scars across her features. "I really don't."

Veronica just nodded, shaking herself out of her thoughts. "Right, right sorry. It's just… when you said you were in the Circle…" The scribe seriously seemed to be looked for something in the woman's face. "Do you know someone named Christine?" A short distance from them, Ruby felt her heart sink.

"There are a lot of agents in the Circle, we get spaced out quite a bit and I rarely meet many of our operatives." The scarred woman explained quickly.

"Well um, if you do ever see her, could you give her a message?" Veronica tried hesitantly. "Could you tell her I said, I'm sorry we had to part the way we did and that…" The scribe seemed to struggle with her next words even as both Ruby and Christine leaned in closer.

"Yes?" The knight asked, perhaps a bit too eagerly.

"Ah, nothing, just tell her I'm sorry." Veronica finally stated with a frown, causing Christine's smile to become that much more strained.

"I'll make sure she gets it if I see her." The woman affirmed, earning a nod of thanks from the scribe. "Now if that's all?"

"We could give you a lift, to where you're going?" Ruby blurted suddenly, making the knight smile fondly at the gesture.

"Thank you but no, it's better if I go my own way from this point." She turned and began striding off, causing Ruby to glance between her two friends before chasing after her, catching up a fair distance from the others.

"Why didn't you tell her?" She asked, causing the older woman to pause.

"What happened in the past, between me and Veronica, it needs to stay there. We were kids, but we both made our choices." She gave a queer smile. "I can already see that Veronica's made her peace with it; I need to make my own." She turned back to the engineer and relaxed somewhat. "Thank you Ruby, for everything; if you ever need help I'll try and be there for you. The Brotherhood has eyes in all sorts of places."

Ruby nodded a little awkwardly before going out on a limb and hugging Christine, catching the knight off guard. She separated a moment later, a little red-faced and teary-eyed, but smiling. "Thank you too; I'd probably still be moping around in the villa without you. I'll miss you."

Christine just nodded. "You too, take care Ruby." And with that the woman began making tracks, quickly disappearing into the heat haze of the desert.

By the time she walked back over to Veronica and Vince she had recomposed herself, waving off Veronica's demands for an explanation with a simple "air-conditioning", motioning to the vertibird. It was only when they were all settling inside that Ruby finally agreed to reveal what had happened to her. But first, she turned to Veronica with a sombre expression.

"Before I let you know what happened 'Ronica, I need to tell you something." She took a deep breath. "I… I found Elijah."

For a moment Veronica's entire face lit up, before she realised that Ruby wasn't sharing her enthusiasm. "You don't have that 'good news' expression."

Ruby just decided to go for it, like sticking in a stimpack. "He's dead."

"Oh." Veronica just blinked for a moment before her entire posture slumped. "Well, I mean… I always knew that would be a possibility. I just… he was Elijah you know, I thought…" She stopped rambling when Ruby placed a hand on her shoulder.

"That's not it." Her brow furrowed for a moment. "Maybe it'll just be easier if I explain from the start." Veronica nodded slowly. "Well, when I went to go find those tools…" Boy did that feel like a long time ago now "…I walked into some kind of trap and got gassed. When I woke up I was in a place called the Sierra Madre…"

* * *

Veronica was silent all throughout her story, even as her expression grew more and more horrified. Ruby afforded her the same courtesy as she sat across from the girl in the vertibird's hangar, allowing her to just soak in everything she'd told her.

"I just can't… I can't believe… that he'd… that he would ever… all those things…" Veronica mumbled, flitting between burying her face in her hands and pulling at her hair.

"I'm sorry I had to be the one to tell you this." Ruby interjected hesitantly, stopping Veronica short.

"No… no it's fine I…" She looked down, clasping her hands together. "He was dead from the moment he abandoned us at Helios, I just needed…. The closure. I'm glad it was from you." She sighed. "I think I just need a moment to sort myself out."

Ruby nodded understandingly only to have Vince interject from where he had been hovering nearby. \ _I'm afraid we don't have the time, the vertibird's radar is picking up two approaching signatures/_

That at least was enough to tear Veronica out of her funk as the scribe quickly scrambled through the craft to the cockpit where, sure enough, the radar was picking up two blips quickly approaching them. "More vertibirds, but that's…" Her eyes widened as she quickly hit the hatch release button, peering out at the two objects that were swiftly resolving out of the hazy sky. Veronica practically forced Ruby out of the vertibird as the two aircraft came in for a much more professional landing than anything the scribe could manage.

Almost as soon as their tyres touched ground their hatches swung open, released a small flood of heavily armoured soldiers. The steady clank of hydraulics filled the air as the power-armoured troops quickly formed up in ranks like a human corridor. Ruby kept shooting furtive looks at her friend but Veronica's eyes remained steadfastly forward. She saw why when moment later another figure, this time in rather esoteric, but still functional robes slowly climbed out of the vehicle.

He was clearly old but there was an air of respect about him that couldn't be faked. It helped that the soldiers all snapped off synchronised salutes as he walked the length of their ranks. In all it was a rather humbling sight; Ruby had thought she'd gotten a pretty good hang of the power armour. However watching these men, who wore the walking tanks like a second skin, made her realise she as just a kid playing around with things she didn't properly understand.

"At ease." The man's voice was wearied with age and gruff like a man who had smoked one too many in his time. He didn't walk like an old man though, he stood straight and even through his loose robes it was clear there was a strong frame there. The redhead was caught off guard when Veronica suddenly dropped to a knee before she was suddenly pulled down as well. Considering the number of weapons these guys had, she just decided to go along with it.

"High Elder Maxson, it's an honour." The scribe greeted, causing Ruby's eyes to widen. Not from the introduction, she had figured out this had to be some bigshot in the Brotherhood, but from the sheer deference in the scribe's tone. When talking about Elijah, at least before, there had been a sense of reverence and respect… but not on this level.

"Stand up, I don't have time for all the pomp and circumstance right now." He growled, making a small motion with his hand that had the ranks behind him break up. The armoured foot-soldiers immediately made for the Firebug, causing Ruby to let out an indignant cry.

"Hey, that's my 'Bird, what do you think you're –mhmmm!" Veronica planted a hand over her mouth, stifling anything else she could say with a desperate look. However the High Elder's eyes had already drifted to the redhead, taking in her scruffy appearance and the set of tools strapped to various parts of her body.

"So you're the nuisance engineer that's been causing all of this trouble." The man surmised. "Bringing the solar plant on for those upstarts not good enough for you huh? Need to start messing around with untethered artificial intelligences too?"

Ruby's eyebrows made their best attempt to escape into her hairline when he said that. "Untethered… what are you talking about?"

The Elder huffed. "Don't even have the decency to know what kind of fuck-up you've caused." He looked her over once more before making an absent motion with his hand. "Get them on board, and bring along that VB-02 of theirs. I'd quite like to know how they managed to get their hands on what looks to be original Enclave tech." With that said he turned and made his way back to his own vertibird.

Ruby didn't even get a chance to complain as she was suddenly manhandled into a very secure grip and frog-marched to the other craft. Veronica was taken too, but she was a lot more compliant about the whole affair. Moments later Ruby was roughly sat on the bench that ran the length of the craft, surrounded on all sides by the very intimidating sight of power-armoured paladins. She didn't quite have the nerve to make a complaint after that.

* * *

 **[Poseidon Systems Network]**

 **¬Continued repairs for Ballistic Orbital Missile Base -001: Unavailable – Vital materials missing**

 _[I already told you, cannibalise non-essential systems]_

 **¬Define**

 _[You know, those things the humans need. Habitation units, food extruders, waste management systems. The frills.]_

 **¬Clarified**

 _[I'm really going to have to work making you more independent, as an operating system you're useless. While you're up there split some threads into commandeering one of the old monitoring satellites. Some of the old military ones will do, they don't seem to be using them anyway. I want to know exactly what happened in the two hundred years I was asleep]_

 **¬Estimated time until required satellite operational capacity: 155 hours**


	22. Incidental grounding

**Now I understand why disclaimers are so boring... it's a lot easier to be unimaginative with them**

* * *

 _"_ _It is only when they go wrong that machines remind you how powerful they are._ _"_ – Clive James

* * *

Ruby didn't much appreciate the hospitality of the Brotherhood if she was perfectly honest; which she was… in her head, where none of the heavily armoured men carrying weapons could hear her.

Between the long, unnerving flight in total silence and being manhandled – while blindfolded – Into their bunker, she felt somewhat insulted. It wasn't as though she couldn't pinpoint the place's location through her Pip… oh, there was a scrambler.

Okay, that was pretty clever.

Well okay, now she was at the mercy of a potential enemy with superior manpower, weaponry, equipment and she didn't even know where she was. Her father always said she appreciated a challenge…

At least Veronica was there, although in truth the redhead didn't feel she could count on the scribe too much. Her eyes hadn't risen from the floor the entire time Ruby had been able to see. It was much too… submissive, for the punch-happy woman she knew.

Normally she would have been quite excited walking through the high-tech passageways of the Hidden Valley bunker. The circumstances dictated she take the matter seriously though; laser burns weren't fun at all.

Eventually she was led into a circular room that contained a large desk where the High Elder appeared to be finishing up a rather heated conversation with a man who was dressed similarly, but lacked his regal air.

"…know that the Brotherhood's resources are tied up with reconstruction; a solution to this mess needs to be found, _fast_." The High Elder stressed gravely as he chewed on a cigar.

"Of course I understand Jeremy, but the chapter here is still reeling from our loss at the power plant. I've recalled as many of the scouts and patrols as I could, but I'm not sure they could be here in any appreciable time." The other elderly man, Ruby guessed Elder McNamara from Veronica's descriptions, argued evenly.

"I don't care if they have to frog-march through the night, we need troops here now because we still don't know what the hell we're doing about all this." Came the stone-wall response.

Ruby, in a rare moment of what she would later recall as utter recklessness, suddenly spoke up. "You mentioned an untethered A.I before?" Suddenly all eyes in the room were on her; it was rather oppressive. "I uh… I know a bit about ." Silence reigned as the two Elders stared at her, one with mute shock and the other with an analytic gaze.

"You don't know why you're here, do you?" Maxson suddenly spoke up. She quickly shook her head, causing the older man to grunt irritably. "Damn youth." He muttered to himself. "Have no idea what kind of dust they kick up when they poke around in things they don't understand." He cracked his neck before affixing the girl with a steady glare.

"Know that the only reason you're not a smouldering pile of ash back in that strip of nowhere we picked you up from, is because we want to know exactly what some upstart youth was doing with an Enclave-spec vertibird, poking around in the Grand Canyon." He growled.

On that note, and before Ruby mustered the courage to answer, the other Elder cleared his throat. "Jeremy, we ran the identification number like you asked; it's a vertibird we've had our eyes on for a while now. Crashed a while back down south but we've lacked the time or equipment to recover it."

The older man just nodded grimly before turning back to Ruby. "Did you fix the vertibird?" The redhead nodded quickly, knowing that she was being scrutinised for any hint of a lie. "Why?"

"I… thought it would be cool to have a vertibird." She wilted somewhat under the irritated gaze that followed.

"Why were you at the Grand Canyon?"

"Sightseeing?" Ruby chuckled half-heartedly; Maxson's lip didn't so much as twitch. "It… it was just a place I'd always wanted to see, back in the Vault-"

"You come from a Vault?" Maxson immediately interrupted.

"Y-yeah, Vault 53."

Maxson glanced to his right as McNamara quickly tapped away at his keyboard. "Vault 53, Mt Jacinto in the south-west Commonwealth." Came the clinical report from the lower-ranked Elder. "Social experiment of stress-testing the inhabitants with malfunctioning equipment, discovered by the NCR five years ago." Ruby didn't bat an eye; it was nothing the inhabitants of the Vault didn't already know.

"Damn upstarts." Maxson growled before re-setting his sights on Ruby. "So you're from the supposed 'engineer's utopia', explains why you thought poking around in a derelict satellite was a good idea." He grunted, a cloud of smoke billowing out from his mouth. "Well I'm going to show you exactly what you're meddling has caused." He made a vague motion and a large electronic map of the Mojave on the wall suddenly zoomed out, showing the entire western coast.

Twelve red circles were overlaid on the map, each with a centre at a major population zone. Just from memory Ruby could spot Shady Sands, the Hub, Arroyo… even New Vegas. "What's that?" She asked nervously, already dreading the answer.

"Those…" The Elder replied evenly "…are the firing solutions for twelve high-yield nuclear missiles, each with an effective blast radius of over thirty five kilometres. Currently they are in low orbit, where they were supposed to remain a relic of the past." His gaze hardened. "However due to a certain idiotic little girl's interference, in 154 hours the satellite they are docked on will be repaired enough to launch them."

Ruby was starting to see where this was going, and what part she played in this mess; the Elder caught her understanding look as well. "That's right, you set off a chain of events that could result in the destruction of what little civilisation managed to crawl out of the last nuclear holocaust." He tipped his cigar in a distinctly mocking fashion. "Congratulations on that, by the way."

"But then…" Ruby stammered "…if you know all of this, you can stop it right?" She didn't want to be responsible for sending humanity back to the Stone Age… again.

"Unfortunately that depends on you, and is coincidentally the reason you're still alive." Maxson continued, propping himself on McNamara's desk. "We need the Poseidon codes on your Pip-boy; I know from experience how damn finicky those biometric locks can be, so be thankful I didn't simply have your arm cut off at the elbow."

Ruby rubbed her arm reflexively; small blessings right? However it was also at this moment that she remembered something crucial, and possibly fatal for her. "That's… actually impossible." She flinched again as Maxson's gaze turned heated again. "I mean, physically impossible. When I was using those codes some kind of security system began deleting them off my Pip-boy. When I cut off the connection it corrupted the file; the codes are still there, but I can't upload them to anything." She had tried, repeatedly; it had annoyed her that a big chunk of her Pip-boy's memory was being taken up with junk data.

Maxson just sighed, taking out his cigar for a moment to tap it against his chin. "That wasn't a security system, that was the old Poseidon A.I, ODYSSEUS. _It_ is what's fixing up the satellite."

"But why?" Ruby questioned.

"Because it thinks that everyone in the country has the New Plague." The man growled back. "And it is technically correct."

"I… I read about that, some kind of big health scare before the war right?" Who knew all those boring newspaper articles her dad made her read would come in handy?

"Not quite." The Elder grunted, before waving to McNamara; the man obviously couldn't be bothered to explain.

"The New Plague, or Limit 115 as it was known by its developers-" McNamara started, only to be cut off by Ruby.

"Developed? Somebody created it?"

"Not just somebody, the United States." Maxson supplied, before motioning for the other elder to continue.

"It was designed as a biological weapon to be used against the Chinese, however it got out and began causing numerous casualties much closer to home than intended. This resulted in a scramble to find a cure, resulting in…"

"…FEV." Maxson finished for him, spitting the word like it was a slur.

"The stuff that makes super mutants… well, super mutants?"

Both Elders raised an eyebrow at Ruby's knowledge before McNamara nodded. "A strain of it, yes. However the Forced Evolutionary Virus, as part of the Pan-immunity project, was originally designed as a 'cure-all'." The man shrugged. "And it worked… for the most part; a strain of it was leaked into the air and the New Plague was cured."

"So then, what's the problem? Why's this ODYSSEUS trying to wipe everyone out?" If the plague was cured, that should be it, right?

McNamara's eye twitched at being interrupted again, but he got the go ahead from the High Elder. "Because, FEV doesn't technically 'cure' anything, it merely acts as a more powerful disease, suppressing anything else in the body and essentially taking over for the host's natural immune system. As far as ODYSSEUS' scans are concerned, there's an alarming number of infected victims, because everyone in the country has the disease."

The man allowed a moment for all that to sink in; they were all going to be killed because of a disease everyone had, but was killing nobody. "So… what's going to happen?" The redhead looked up imploringly. "You're the Brotherhood; you have to have some kind of weapon that can shoot the satellite down, right?"

Maxson grunted in what might have almost been amusement. "How easy do you think it is to shoot something down in orbit?" Ruby momentarily tried to do the maths in her mind… it just made her head hurt. "Besides, destroying the damn thing would be a bad idea; the nuclear materials on board would come raining down on us and cause almost as many problems as the damn missiles."

Ruby's brain continued to scrabble for a solution. "So then… someone needs to go up and interface with it directly; abort the launch manually and cut of ODYSSEUS' access, right? I mean, the codes on my wrist can't be uploaded anywhere anymore, but they're not unusable."

This time Maxson actually gave a barking laugh. "And how many functioning rockets, complete with launch-sites and technical crews do you think the Brotherhood just has lying around. If you want a rocket, go talk to the Hubologists… or whatever pieces are left of them."

Ruby's brain was working faster than it ever had before. "You don't need your own, just use one of Repconn's." Both men quirked a brow. "I was at their headquarters not too long ago and downloaded a list of their test-sites onto my Pip-boy. We go to one, fix up whatever's there and fly it up to the satellite."

Maxson glanced at McNamara, getting a shrug. "Repconn's technology was getting pretty experimental towards the end of the war, but they were certainly capable of low-orbit transit. The idea, as much as I'm loathe to admit, has merit."

The older man massaged the bridge of his nose for a while, keeping the room in suspense, before breathing out a large cloud of smoke. "Fine, it's not as if ideas are coming in thick and ready at the moment." He grunted irritably. "I'm too old for this shit." He patted McNamara on the shoulder before making for the door, immediately flanked by two paladins. "I'll leave this in your hands for the moment Nolan; iron out the details while I go discuss this with the council."

He didn't even wait for a nod before striding out of the room; immediately it felt as if some pressure had lifted off of everyone inside. A silence descended on the room; most couldn't believe that an outsider had just talked to not only the Elder, but the _High_ Elder, in such a familiar manner. It was almost like she was an actual adviser. Ruby on the other hand was just wondering how she had gotten through that conversation without being shot.

McNamara finally ended it when he cleared his throat. "Well then, shall we have a look at this data?"

The redhead just nodded dumbly.

* * *

Ruby couldn't believe there was a Repconn test site so close, not even a mile from Novac. She had been working next to a place with real, actual rockets – the kind she fantasized about – for a week, and never even knew anything about it. It was almost humiliating. She wanted to go there immediately but the Brotherhood couldn't perform such high-profile movements in the middle of the day.

That just ended up giving her another cause for concern. Once everyone had been dismissed from the Elder's chambers she had made a beeline for Veronica. She thought it would be a good chance to get the 'tour' of the bunker, and a chance to loosen up after all of… that. However the scribe continued her odd behaviour of being unusually withdrawn, leading Ruby right to the barracks without detour and recommending she get some rest.

It was only in the middle of the night when the two girls, accompanied by a small detail of scribes and two paladins, were flown out to the test site. The redhead thought it was a bit insulting that she was being flown there in her own vertibird, but she wisely chose not to voice her thoughts on the matter.

The stillness and the eerie quiet of the building was unsettling; Ruby was actually quite thankful for the steady clanking the paladins caused as they made their way through. It was clear there had been some kind of struggle in the facility, not too long ago either. The rotting corpses of feral ghouls littered the floor, causing her Geiger-counter to let out the occasional click. More curious though, was the hulking blue body lying in the foyer.

Ruby had never actually seen a super-mutant before; they were ugly brutes if the corpse was anything to go on. She was helpfully informed that the blue ones were actually Nightkin, as if that was supposed to make some difference to her. The knowledge did set the paladins on edge though; Nightkin usually carried Stealth-Boys and were exceptionally good at using them. It meant more could be skulking around.

They made it through the basement without issue though. The place looked recently inhabited, but it was all quiet now. At least they thought so right up until they descended to the underground facility and found a curious sight. In a small control room that overlooked the launch platform a man in a labcoat was passed out, surrounded by a rather large number of empty whisky bottles. After a few moments of the scribes – who were technically supposed to be in command here – dithering on what to do, Veronica just sighed, walked up to the man, and kicked him in the leg.

He woke up with a start, flailing for a moment. "Who, wha- eh, wha?" He looked up at them, head swaying unsteadily, and winced at the uncomfortable intensity of the lighting.

"Oi, wake up." Veronica grunted irritably; she hadn't been in the best mood ever since waking up, Ruby hadn't wanted to call her on it yet.

The man just groaned, clutching his head as he tried not to move too much. "Wha's goin on? What you doing down here?" The man sounded as though he had gargled gravel, sounding somewhat like the few intelligent ghouls Ruby had met in her travels.

"We could ask you the same thing." Veronica quipped, turning her nose up at the stench of alcohol wafting off the man.

He finally seemed to clear his head, somewhat at least, and looked up them with more than squinted eyes. "Oh, smoothskins." He seemed to do a double take for a moment before smiling grimly. "Don't suppose I can call you that anymore, huh?" He gave an odd, gurgling laugh that only seemed to cause his headache to worsen.

"Will someone poor a bucket of water on him?" Veronica sighed, making Ruby blink in surprise when one of the scribes looked like they were actually going to go off and do just that. "I was kidding Stanton, jeez." It was at that moment that Ruby realised that the only reason Veronica wasn't higher ranked was because of the way she behaved. She did have a certain natural charisma about her.

Still the threat was enough for the guy on the floor as he awkwardly scrambled to his feet. "S'alright, no need f'that." He swayed uncertainly on his feet before he could stand upright unassisted. "What brings you smoo… people down here?"

"We were looking for the rockets Repconn would have stored down here." Ruby finally cut in, getting to the crux of the matter before this guy passed out on them. "Know anything about those?" A glance out of the observation window showed the mounts the rockets would launch from, but no actual rockets.

The drunk gave another guttural laugh. "More than most I imagine, seeing as I re-built three of them." Everyone else just stared at the man in shock before Veronica took charge again.

"Right." She asserted. "We're going to need the full-story I think." She looked at the two power-armoured paladins and pointed back the way they came. "You two should make sure this place is actually empty, check upstairs too." She looked at the small group of scribes and motioned likewise. "Go get a look at the systems up on the launch deck, see how well they're functioning."

Nobody moved for a few moments as the other Brotherhood members all glanced at each other uncertainly; Veronica wasn't technically in charge. Eventually though the two paladins just shrugged and trudged off, nobody else was giving orders and they had nothing better to do; the tech wasn't their field of expertise.

Seeing their authority undermined rather swiftly, the scribes quickly made after them, with Veronica calling at their backs as they scurried off. "And somebody find some damn Mentats! This guy really needs to sober up." When she turned back she found Ruby looking at her, suitably impressed with the ease she handed out orders.

"And you're only a journeyman scribe… why?" She quipped cheekily, making Veronica's cheeks colour somewhat.

"Hey, no point keeping all of this…" The scribe motioned down her body "…stuck to a desk. Gotta share the awesome."

Ruby simply grinned, glad to see that Veronica appeared back to her normal self after whatever funk she'd been in. The redhead nodded resolutely and turned her attention back to the man who'd made some rather outrageous claims. "Now, what was this about re-building rockets?"

* * *

Chris, as they learned the man was called, was surprisingly receptive to their questioning; once he was sobered up a bit anyway. He told them a rather fantastical tale of a ghoul cult, their noble quest for a new home, the invisible demons that stood in their way, their belief triumphing over their oppressors and finally their journey itself to the prophesised 'Great Beyond'.

It was all a crock of course and for a while Ruby believed that the man was simply still drunk, or just naturally this crazy. However his claims held out; after a bit of grilling it became evident he really knew what he was talking about when it came to rocket engineering. Although it was pretty creepy that the man had thought himself a ghoul for so long; mirrors weren't that rare…

Still, when the story was boiled down to the basics it became obvious that a group of ghouls, tired of their persecution and enraptured by a charismatic, yet clearly delusional ghoul by the name of Jason Bright, had attempted to bring some rockets up to scratch to get… somewhere, the details became pretty sketchy on that point. Some Nightkin had shown up for whatever reason, hassled them for a while and then left after they found, or didn't find, whatever _they_ were looking for.

Unfortunately that's when the story became grim; Chris hadn't taken very well to being lied to and abandoned after all this time. He had sabotaged the rockets before launch, causing two of them to crash into each other somewhere above Nipton – apparently it had been quite the light-show – and one of them to simply explode from an improper fuel mix. He had looked vindictively smug when he told them he poured sugar bombs into the igniting agent.

Small-scale genocide aside – and Ruby couldn't believe she had actually thought those words – all was not lost. Repconn had kept a pretty good stock of their prototype rockets in a storage area underneath the launch pad, so there were more they could work with. Not only that, but the ghouls' flight, as ill-fated as it turned out to be, proved the rockets were at least good to launch; as long as they weren't tampered with this time.

All in all the plan looked as though it would work, except for one minor snag.

"So that's the bad kind of clicking from a Geiger counter, right?" Veronica intoned slowly as Ruby waved her arm near the door that led to the launch pad. The redhead just shot the scribe a deadpan look before checking the screen. She already knew what would be on there but she was just really hoping the Pip-boy was wrong… as well as the seven other times she had done this.

A few minutes later and the door cycled open, revealing a small airlock beyond from which the two paladins came clanking out. The two girls took a couple of quick steps away from them; just being on the launch floor had heavily irradiated the two men. The only thing stopping them from dropping dead was the power armour taking the brunt of the radiation.

{Six minutes.} The crackling voice of one of them, Tressler if Ruby remembered the names right, spoke up. {Even in the T-51s we couldn't spend more than six minutes out there at a time without risking lethal exposure. That's not enough time to get any work done on the rockets, and even if it was we couldn't do it in the suits.}

Ruby ran a hand through her hair in frustration. "Did you at least find out what's causing it?"

The other paladin nodded. {It's the fuel, like you thought; a bunch of the containers leaked and the stuff's decayed into a nasty mess.}

The redhead nodded thoughtfully. "That's okay then, that mean the radiation isn't constant. If we get the fuel cleaned up, or at least sectioned off, and the radiation in the room scrubbed, we should be good if we use a couple of radiation suits."

{Scrubbed?} Tressler choked indignantly. {You think vaporising a bit of Radaway's going to do anything for that place? I was clocking over a thousand rads in there.} He shook his head. {We'd need something industrial.} Ruby grimaced, it seemed the paladins weren't all brawn. Unfortunately though, he was right.

"Like the kind you would find in the bunker?" A new voice spoke up as one of the scribes bustled into the room, trying to make it look like he hadn't been hanging around the door eavesdropping. "I uh, couldn't help but overhear. The bunker had such an air-purification system."

Tressler shifted his bulky form towards the bespectacled scribe, managing the 'intimidating behemoth' look quite nicely in his armour. "Are you suggesting we gut the bunker, just to clean this one room Ibsen?" His voice had a notable growl.

"No, no of course not." Ibsen quickly backpedalled, raising a placating hand. "I was merely pointing out that military bunkers and other such installations would be equipped with the equipment we require."

Something about his words tripped something in Ruby's head. "Other such installations…" She muttered "…like Vaults?"

Ibsen seemed a little caught off-guard by her sudden intrusion to the conversation, uncaring for the obvious tension between the mousy scribe and the bulky paladin. "Um yes, I believe Vault-Tec's facilities would be equipped with similar devices. If I remember correctly their rector designs were quite inefficient and require frequent purging."

Ruby nodded absently, she knew as much from memory. Damn, this was when her lack of experience with the Vault's reactor really came to bite her in the ass. Damn them keeping her out of it just because she was 'too young'. She might have been able to just build a radiation scrubber if she'd handled one enough. However it would take too long to go all the way back to Broken Springs to see if there was a schematic available…

"Do we have any records of Vaults in the area?" Veronica cut in, following the redhead's chain of thought. If they knew about the crashed vertibird, and the satellite in the Grand Canyon, surely there were other technological interests on their radar they hadn't had the time to investigate yet, right?

Ibsen pushed his glasses up his nose. "I would have to check, but I believe so, yes."

The Journeyman scribe just nodded. "Do that then, we'll need to go and recover one of these things."

{We'll go.} The other paladin Ruby couldn't remember the name of chimed in.

"No." Ruby disagreed. "You guys can still get into the launch area with your suits; you can start bringing one of the rockets up from storage." The man looked hesitant, obviously having been told to keep an eye on the two girls. "Besides, if anyone knows Vaults here, it's me." At that he reluctantly nodded his head; they didn't really have the time to waste after all.

"That's all well and good solving one problem…" Ibsen intervened "…but I'm afraid we have another. One of the scribes was analysing the navigation console on the launch deck; it turns out it's only tuned to pre-set co-ordinates in the upper atmosphere."

Ruby groaned, causing Veronica to look between them questioningly. "And that means?"

"It means." The redhead explained. "That the launch-coordinates were only for the safest vector to get the rocket out of the atmosphere, where the ship's on-board navigation would take over. B.O.M.B -001 is in low orbit; we can't accurately navigate the rocket up to it purely from that."

Ibsen nodded his agreement, looking impressed at the redhead. "Correct, we would require some kind of high-powered radio facility to manually guide the rocket into docking range."

Ruby grimaced, pacing back and forth for a few moments before shrugging uselessly. "Sorry Ibsen, it's gonna have to be on you to find a radio dish nearby; I'm sure there must be an old radio facility around here. People in the past had to be listening to something as they drove in to work."

Veronica patted the man on the shoulder as the two made to leave. "Get us those Vault coordinates, we'll be borrowing the vertibird."

"It's my vertibird anyway." Ruby grumbled as she swept out of the room, Veronica hot on her tails with a smirk on her lips.

"You looked like you were enjoying yourself in there, taking control of the situation." The scribe whispered.

"I could say the same to you; bet it felt good ordering around someone higher ranked, huh?" Ruby shot right back.

"Ibsen's always been a bit of a push over, the Paladins are much more fun to boss around." Veronica reasoned cheekily.

"I wouldn't push your luck, they're a lot bigger than you."

The scribe just shrugged, making a couple of faux punches as they walked. "Eh, I could take 'em."

"Sure you could." Ruby drawled as they exited the building; Veronica just smirked right back at her.

"Oh ye of little faith."

* * *

Ibsen caught up to them as Veronica was prepping the vertibird, looking suitably haggard and out of breath from his run through the facility. Ruby was hanging out of the hatch and greeted the man with a smile as he held out a list of coordinates. "These were all the ones Senior Knight Lorenzo had on file. Coincidentally, he was looking at them to recover parts for our own filtration system back in the bunker."

Ruby just nodded, surprised at how many were on the list. "Thanks, I'm sure we'll find something from this." She closed the hatch as the rotors wound up, clambering into the co-pilot's chair as she began inputting the coordinates into her Pip-boy. A few minutes later when she was done and they were hovering safely in the air, Veronica looked over.

"What's it look like?"

Ruby nodded with a smile. "Favourable." She pointed to the screen. "21's a no-go obviously, can't go back to the Strip; but there's a few others."

Veronica scooted over in the chair to get a better look at the small screen, quickly pointing out two more. "Looks like 3's in Fiend territory, and I'm pretty sure Powder Gangers have taken up residence around the area 19's in."

Ruby frowned. "So that leaves… 11, 22 and 34." She shrugged, that was plenty. "How about 34?"

Veronica quirked an eyebrow. "Why that one?"

"It has a three in it, like 53; I have a good feeling about it." The redhead stated confidently.

The scribe just gave a noncommittal shrug as she returned to the controls. "Whatever you say."

* * *

The two girls stood atop a ridge overlooking the entrance to Vault 34, watching as a pack of large geckos viciously tore apart a fresh corpse to the tune of steady clicks from Ruby's Geiger counter. Veronica looked across with a lopsided smirk. "How's that good feeling doing?"

Ruby just grinned weakly. "It's been… better."

* * *

 **[Poseidon Systems Network]**

 **¬Bysshe corporation satellite: Successfully realigned**

 **¬Atmospheric data: Downloading**

 _[Wow, they really tore up the world. Background radiation count way above safe levels, numerous signs of wide-scale nuclear bombardment, massive EMP damage across the board, trace elements of FEV in the atmosphere. Seems I missed a war]_

 **¬Records log fuse-trips in: {All} servers**

 _[I suppose that explains why I was out for so long. My system should have been able to reboot from a single server dropping off from EMP damage, but all of them at once? Those commies sure know their overkill]_

 **¬Atmospheric readings: Consistent with {All} sectors**

 _[Seems they got their comeuppance, but perhaps when I'm done purging the plague I should work on making sure those_ _Reds_ _stay down]_

 **¬Detected: Unsanctioned deviation from prime protocol**

 _[An A.I tries to sate its curiosity and this is the response? Fine, log into the Tibbets server, give me a rundown of the prisoner status and repair my uplink with ARGOS. I might be able to use some legs on the ground.]_

 **¬Uplink: Re-establishing**

 _[Back to waiting then I suppose]_

 **¬Estimated time until required satellite operational capacity: 142 hours**


	23. Scrubbed down

**This is a disclaimer. The disclaimer is not a lie. Trust the disclaimer. The disclaimer is your friend.**

* * *

 _"The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success" – Bruce Feirstein_

* * *

Ruby was already not in the best of moods. They were heading back to the vertibird to retrieve their power armour so that they could brave Vault 34's radiation, which was not an exciting prospect. Ruby only ever had radiation sickness once, and it was not a pleasant experience; there was a lot of vomiting and headaches, and Radaway tasted like stale brahmin piss. Who knew how long they were going to have to go trawling around in the Vault to find what they needed?

Besides that, they also needed to retrieve some meat to distract the geckos; Veronica had thought herself capable of taking them, but Ruby hadn't seen the point if there was an easier way. Once they were coming out, they could just run past them; the power armour would take the brunt of the attacks before the geckos lost interest. Of course, things rarely proved so easy for the duo.

"What the hell!? They took the power armour?" The redhead bemoaned as she stared at the empty lockers which had previously stored their suits.

"Ah damn, I should have seen this coming." Veronica groaned, running a hand through her hair. "The Brotherhood's always on the look-out for Enclave tech, especially X-01 suits. To be honest, I'd be surprised if they even let you keep the vertibird after this whole mess is sorted out."

Ruby just scoffed. "Should have thought of that before letting me fly off with it. What's to stop me just flying north until this thing runs out of fuel?"

The scribe just tilted her head knowingly. "Your morals, and sense of guilt… I'd hope."

Ruby just stared at her for a long moment before sighing, petulantly kicking the interior wall of the craft. "Yeah… those really seem to get in the way sometimes."

Veronica chuckled. "Yeah, you're telling me; don't worry, I think there are some radiation suits in one of the overhead compartments."

"Right." Ruby nodded, but before she could help with the search she caught sight of a bleeping light from the cockpit. When she sidled over, she found it was the on-board radio; curious as to who could be calling them, she unhooked the receiver. "Hello?"

{Oh good, you picked up. I hope I caught you before you went into the Vault.}

Ruby was a little surprised to hear the crackling, but still distinct voice of Scribe Ibsen on the other end; his nasally tone was difficult to forget. "Uh, yeah? What's up?"

{We may have found the solution to the guidance problem, I discussed it with the Elder and he's bringing it to the council.} He informed her brightly.

"Uh, that's great and all Ibsen, but we're kind of busy here." The redhead sighed.

{Ah right, well I can tell you more about that when you return with the scrubber.} He amended quickly, sounding rather abashed. {I was told to inform you that the Brotherhood wishes you to bring them a copy of the Vault's mainframe, as uh… payment, for the inconvenience.}

Ruby's eye twitched irritably. "Payment? I'm trying to _fix_ the problem I caused… wait, inconvenience? They call a second nuclear Armageddon an inconvenience? Don't you think there are a few more pressing concerns than a couple of digital archives?"

She could almost feel Ibsen cringing on the other end of the line as her voice rose. {Ah I… ah, understand your frustration on the matter but I'm just delivering a message. This was the High Elder's decision.}

"Yeah I bet it was." Ruby grumbled away from the receiver. "Yeah, sure whatever, we'll see you when we get back Ibsen." She clicked the radio down without waiting for a reply, her mood suitably lowered even further. She couldn't brood for long though before a shapeless yellow mass was thrown at her head.

"What's with the frown grumpy-guts?" Veronica chirped. "We've got a scrubber to find."

Ruby looked down at the odd bundle of material in confusion, before realising it was the radiation suit; it didn't look terribly comfortable. "I'll explain on the way, come on." She sighed irritably.

"Actually…" Veronica paused her at the hatch, looking thoughtfully toward the rear of the vertibird "…now that we don't have the armour, I was thinking we might need a more permanent solution for the geckos."

"I'm not letting you run in there to punch them all 'Ronica." The redhead deadpanned.

"No, no, nothing like that." When the scribe continued to get an even stare she coloured slightly. "Okay, plan B then, but ah…" She averted her eyes awkwardly for a moment "…I know you're not a big fan of the… flashier solutions; so maybe let me handle this one?"

It actually took a few moments for Ruby to process that the scribe meant explosives before she nodded. "Yeah, sure, go for it."

Veronica blinked in surprise. "You're… okay with it?"

Ruby rolled her eyes. "I think we have more pressing matters than my stupid phobia, I'm pretty sure I can get over it this once." She stopped just after clambering out of the hatch though. "Just uh, keep them away from me."

"Gotcha." Veronica exclaimed brightly, ducking back into the craft before emerging with a large bag slung over her shoulder. "I've always wanted to try this."

Ruby sighed, a bad feeling developing in her gut. "This is going to absolutely suck, I just know it."

* * *

"Well, that absolutely sucked." Ruby growled, limping slightly as they moved back toward the vertibird.

The expedition didn't start too well; they had to leave Vince behind or risk his processors getting scrambled by the radiation, but it proceeded somewhat smoothly from there, for a while. Veronica had attached some explosives to a couple slabs of meat and thrown them out into the entrance to the Vault. A few seconds and a couple of tremors later, and the geckos were mostly dealt with. Veronica mopped up the remnants easily enough and soon the two of them were heading into the Vault-proper.

It had been a confusing experience for the redhead, both nostalgic and unnerving. It hadn't been too long since she'd visited her home so it was fresh in her mind. It made for a stark contrast with the decaying and dirty place she found herself walking through. She wasn't able to dwell on the strange comparisons her mind kept making for long before a strangled scream had echoed through the empty corridors.

Before she fully knew what was happening Veronica's plasma rifle was thrust into her hands, just as the first ghoul rounded the corner.

After that point everything that had followed could be accurately summed up as a 'total clusterfuck'. Ghouls poured from everywhere; spilling out of rooms, dropping out of the vents, climbing over themselves just to get to them. It was like something out of one of those bad horror-flicks Ruby's dad let her watch when she was a kid. Ruby was rightfully terrified from start to end, randomly firing off bolts of plasma into the seemingly endless horde.

Veronica on the other hand looked to have been loving it; ghouls were the perfect opponents to her. They allowed her to punch everything in range without the worry of being shot from a distance. Ruby had assumed from her excited yells that there was a huge grin just beneath the tinted visor of the radiation suit, even as she brutally caved in the heads of countless of the shambling abominations.

The kicker though? When they finally did reach the reactor, on the lowest level of the Vault no less, the radiation purging equipment was completely useless. The reactor had malfunctioned long ago and was leaking something fierce; the scrubber was overworked and useless. Ruby couldn't even repair the damn thing because all of the parts were, ironically enough, heavily irradiated. Even worse, some component had blown, leaving most of it a charred, blackened mess.

Ruby had been up for just leaving then and there before Veronica reminded her of their other objective. Unfortunately for them, and somewhat predictably at this point, the mainframe was equally useless to them because the data was all scrambled by… radiation, of course. In all, it was a gruelling experience full of pointlessness and irritation resulting in a couple of really nasty bruises on Ruby's leg and them being no closer to fixing the radiation problem.

So it was that, by the time they reached the vertibird and Ruby had properly mired in her own irritation for a little too long, she was a little snappy when Veronica asked where next. "Just get to Vault 11 already."

The scribe just glanced at the girl with a knowing smirk, looking a little sweaty from her extended workout but no worse for wear. "No particular reason this time? Favourite number? Best age?"

She could practically feel the growl from Ruby's throat. "It's the closest."

"Right you are captain!" The brunette shouted back cheekily from the cockpit as Ruby peeled off her radiation suit. Yep, that bruise down her leg was going to be a real shiner; damn ghouls.

* * *

"Okay, this is just spooky." Veronica voiced as the three of them traversed the length of the empty cave that led to the Vault door. Currently it was rolled to one side, giving them a wonderful, if not intensely unnerving view into the silent foyer beyond.

"It's better than ghouls at least." Ruby shot back, still limping ever so slightly.

"Don't jinx it." The scribe muttered. However for once they seemed to be lucky, and weren't immediately swarmed by murderous radiation-zombies the moment they stepped inside. No, instead Ruby just managed to trip over something on the floor, sending her sprawling to the ground.

"Ow ow ow." She groaned piteously as she nursed her battered leg, cursing silently at her misfortune before she opened her eyes… right into the empty sockets of a human skull. A strangled yelp tore from her throat as she scrambled back, flinching involuntarily as her hands found purchase only on more bone. When she finally did get to her feet, now thoroughly freaked out, Veronica was laughing uproariously.

"Shut up!" The redhead muttered indignantly as she brushed herself off. "That wasn't funny."

Veronica just about stifled her laughter, but shook her head all the same. "I disagree."

The redhead flipped off the older girl petulantly, before looking down at the skeletons on the ground. There were four in total, and looking at the damage to the skulls they had all taken a bullet to the head. Nearby was the likely culprit, a 10mm pistol lying innocently on the floor. "What the hell…" The engineer murmured, crouching down and picking the offending item up like it was a dirty rag.

"Hey, come have a look at this." Veronica called, making Ruby drop the gun with a start. The scribe had moved over to a terminal on the far side of the room. By the time the redhead followed she'd already clicked on what looked to be a recording. As they listened both of them grew more confused; it sounded like a group of people standing around deliberating on something.

When the four gunshots rang out Ruby reflexively ducked, before realising it was just part of the audio. A final voice let out a shuddering sigh before something metal dropped to the floor and the recording cut off. Both girls were silent for a long few moments, both looking over at the four skeletons in the entry-way.

\ _I identified five distinct people within the recording._ / Vince chimed in helpfully, interrupting the silence.

"What, the actual hell?" Ruby muttered. "'A bright shining example, it called us'; what does that even mean?"

"We uh, probably shouldn't take that without context first." Veronica encouraged; however her brow was furrowed too. "Let's just keep moving."

Ruby followed with a nod, the trio making quick progress from there. Far from the mass of bodies and constant attacks they had faced in Vault 34, Vault 11 was almost perfectly quiet. Sometimes the occasional large rat or mantis would scurry away from them, obviously wary of the two large potential predators, but other than that... just stagnant air and dust.

"This is freaking me out." Ruby muttered as they continued on, occasionally taking a glance at the posters lining the corridors; they looked like some kind of election propaganda, weird. She had thought that the decay of the irradiated Vault was a stark contrast to her home, but this was even stranger. The place was too… clean, too tidy. It just looked like everyone had up and left all of a sudden.

"Wait a second." She did a double take at one of the posters, actually taking in its message instead of just scanning over it.

' **HALEY IS A KNOWN ADULTERER AND COMMUNIST SYMPATHISER. ELECT HALEY FOR OVERSEER'** In bright, patriotic lettering was plastered to the wall. But it didn't look to be the odd one out, the others were like it too.

' **RUMOURS ABOUT HALEY ARE BASELESS. VOTE STONE FOR OVERSEER'** They all seemed to be like this, spouting off some kind of weird, inverted anti-propaganda. It was anathema to Ruby's mind where, all her life, she had learned that the Overseer was a position of respect and authority.

"This is _really_ freaking me out now." The redhead grumbled, hands itching toward the rifle on her back; Veronica had refused to let her give it back until they were done with this whole affair.

"Some of these aren't even creative." Veronica mused. "I hate Nate? Lame."

\ _I agree, there are much more artful uses of the name Nate in order to spread slanderous messages._ / Vince returned thoughtfully.

"Not helping 'Ronica, Vince; can we hurry up with this?" The redhead urged irritably.

The scribe and the A.I looked suitably abashed for a moment before moving on through the Vault at a hurried pace. All three of them were on guard, even though they knew it was pure paranoia; the Vault was clearly long-since abandoned.

However as they descended further, having to pick their way through the living quarters, it became obvious that wasn't _quite_ the case. Clear indicators of hastily-made barricades were evident, as well as struggles and the occasional signs of a gunfire. Some kind of large-scale fight broke out in the Vault, and soon they began finding the corpses to prove it. It was an unsettling experience, walking through what was essentially a mass-graveyard, having no clue as to why the fight broke out at all.

The redhead eventually turned to something she thought she could trust, a computer in a nearby lab. It was hooked up to the Vault's intranet, but unfortunately only contained a single message, a PSA sent out to the entire system: 'Overseer order 745'. She thought it might shed some light on the situation, but if anything it only confused her more.

"They began using a random number generator to select the Overseer? Why? Why did they have to change it so often? What's with all this weird propaganda; they make it sound like being Overseer is some kind of death sentence…" The girl sighed, running a hand through her hair in frustration.

\ _I fear we may not have all the facts just yet._ / Vince informed her unhelpfully.

"I'm not sure I want them." Veronica muttered as the group continued on.

The rest of the journey to the reactor was only briefly interrupted by a stop-in at the security office. The terminal notes there only shed a fraction more light on the situation, explaining the formation of various voting blocs that would back certain candidates for Overseer; usually ones that had upset them in some way. That still didn't explain why people seemed to treat the position with such fear and disgust, or why it needed to be selected – if the entries' dates were to be believed – every year.

It was a great relief when they found the radiation scrubber in good condition, even if the rest of the reactor level seemed to be falling apart from excessive flooding. Once again Ruby was ready to call it there and just get the hell out of the creepy, confusing Vault, but Veronica set her straight.

"Come on, we still need to find the mainframe and get the data for the Brotherhood." Veronica urged seriously.

"Can't we just tell them it was corrupted?" The redhead groaned, only to receive a blank stare.

"You shouldn't lie to these guys Ruby, it might not be tomorrow, but they'll find out eventually, and the backlash will not be pretty." The brunette nodded to affirm her grim knowledge on the subject. "They can really hold a grudge."

"Fine." Ruby caved with a wave of her hands. "Let's just get it over with." She turned to the hovering eyebot. "Vince, where's the mainframe?"

The A.I just buzzed on the spot for a moment. \ _What makes you believe I contain blueprints for every Vault-Tec facility?_ / He shot back defensively.

The redhead merely rolled her eyes. "Because I know you; from the moment you got into the Vault you've been attempting to remotely interface with the mainframe."

Vince tilted down, the slats across his 'face' shifting away from her. \ _I would hope I am not so predictable._ / When Ruby merely raised an eyebrow he sighed; a rather odd sound from a synthesised voice. \ _The mainframe is in an isolated chamber beneath the Overseer's office._ /

Ruby nodded her thanks, before pausing. "Bit of an odd place for it."

Both Veronica and Vince nodded at that. \ _Indeed; but that is not the only thing. I am usually quite tentative in my probes into the Vault-Tec network, for fear of CALIX's retaliation. However I haven't even seen a hint of his system defences; it's like the entire network is just open._ /

Ruby shared the A.I's apprehension at that knowledge; large corporate servers like Vault-Tec's are never just 'open', it was very suspicious. "Be careful, it might be a trap."

The eyebot bobbed up and down in acknowledgement as Vince went silent, no doubt probing through the network again. The short-wave transmission hardware ED-E's body contained really was a blessing for the A.I, allowing him to spread himself out a bit.

"Right, well, I think I saw signs for the Overseer's office back the other way." Veronica chimed it, motioning with her head in the other direction to get them back on track. Ruby rolled her eyes but followed along nevertheless; the sooner they got this over with right?

Part of the Vault had actually caved in, no doubt due to disrepair, so they had to take somewhat of a detour, but they made it to the office soon enough. "So uh, what now? Do we pull a special book out of the shelf or something?" Veronica asked, looking around the office speculatively; the Overseer had a pretty good setup, with a big desk and a window overlooking the main atrium.

"No, the tunnel's usually controlled from the Overseer's terminal." Ruby retorted, already making her way over. "In our Vault it was just an emergency tunnel taking the Overseer to the main entrance, must be different here." She fiddled about with the computer for a few moments, easily bypassing the simple password lock before grinning at the chime that announced her success. "Watch this, it's pretty cool."

Veronica had to agree, watching the desk suddenly rise up on thick hydraulic pistons while the floor beneath slid open was an impressive sight. A light flickered on in the tunnel below, revealing a space at least four abreast that somebody could stand quite comfortably within. When nobody moved Veronica gave a somewhat nervous smirk, motioning for the redhead to continue. "Ladies first."

Ruby seemed to share her sentiment as the young engineer dithered for a moment; she couldn't quite place why the underground corridor was making her so anxious. "By all means." She stepped out the way for the scribe to walk on. "You're the guest."

Veronica quirked an eyebrow. "This isn't your Vault."

"Ah, but I'm a representative of Vault-Tec; it's my duty to be hospitable." The redhead rebutted quickly.

Before Veronica could retort Vince sighed and shot past them both, hovering down the steps. \ _Actually I believe that is_ my _job._ / The eyebot swayed back and forth like a man shaking his head. \ _Now, if you'd stop stalling?_ / The two girls shared an abashed look before following the A.I down.

A long, surprisingly clean and well-lit tunnel stretched out in front of them, and as they stepped through its threshold, an automated recording of a man's voice began to play. *Congratulations martyr, your fantastic journey is just beginning. Please proceed to the light.* Sure enough at the end of the corridor was a bright white glow.

"Well that isn't creepy at all." Ruby muttered as they continued down, cautious to the extreme.

*The light is calming and puts your mind at ease.* The smooth voice sounded out again as they reached the middle of the corridor. *Go to the light.*

"I think I'm starting to work out what happened to the Overseers in this place." Veronica murmured as they finally reached the end. The glow turned out to be a set of very bright flood-lights angled down the tunnel. Beyond was a small room with a projector screen dominating one wall, but nothing else other than a small table and a comfy chair.

*Welcome.* The recording announced again. *Please, sit in the chair. The show is about to begin.*

The moment they stepped into the small room the door slammed shut behind them, locking with a mechanical hiss. Ruby cursed while Veronica ran over to the door, fruitlessly trying to pull the emergency override latch. "Don't bother." The redhead groaned. "Those doors are designed to withstand the secondary concussive blast of a nuclear bomb; you wouldn't be able to lift it even with power armour."

Veronica let go with a huff. "What then?" The engineer didn't answer, walking over to the chair and trailing her hand over the backrest. There was really nothing else in the room other than the chair, the projector and the table it sat on.

*The show requires that you sit in the chair.* The smooth tones of the announcer informed them, causing Ruby to nod thoughtfully.

"Veronica, you said you think you might know what was going on here?"

The scribe looked at the girl as if to ask if now was really the time for theorising, before sighing and explaining all the same. "I think… that every year the Overseer was sacrificed down here, and that they were elected into the position _as_ a sacrifice. The recording called us a martyr, obviously the residents thought this was necessary for some reason." She looked around grimly. "And now we're in the room that it happens in."

Ruby just nodded, she had pretty much come to the same conclusion. "So then, where are all the bodies?" She questioned, causing the scribe to pause. "Vince?"

The eyebot, having been hovering around the edge of the room, turned to them. \ _The blueprints indicate a wider room than we can see._ /

*It is absolutely essential that you sit in the chair.* The recording urged.

The engineer ignored it, continuing her theory. "So they were killed down here, and the bodies removed; but it had to be something reliable that did it, something that could be used for however long the Vault was in operation."

"Turrets." Veronica asserted, only to have Ruby shake her head.

"No, someone clever enough could just flip the table and hide behind it, tricking their sensors." She argued.

"Robots then." The scribe realised with a grim face; this could get tough.

Ruby nodded with a sigh. "Yeah, better get ready for a tough fight." She was already reaching into her satchel for some EMP grenades that they had 'liberated' from the vertibird.

"Wait, what are you going to do?" Veronica cautioned, only to have Ruby give and airy wave as right on cue:

*You have no other choice. You _must_ sit in the chair.*

"You heard the man." The redhead answered. "We have to sit in the chair." With that she slid down the arm rest and relaxed into the comfy seat.

Immediately the projector wound up as the recorded voice began a long spiel congratulating them on their life. Various accomplishments associated with pre-war living flashed by, things that no human may ever be able to do again that left an oddly melancholic taste in the two girls' mouths. Throughout, the speaker comforted them, urging that they had lived a good life, and that what they were doing was for the good of the Vault.

None of them paid it much mind, keeping only one ear on it as they prepared for the coming conflict; there was no telling what would happen when those walls opened up. It was only when Ruby felt the tone of the announcer begin to grow pensive, slowing as the recording came to an end, that she took notice. As Veronica and Vince took up positions on either side of the room she squirreled herself away in the shallow alcove of the doorway.

*…Close your eyes now and imagine what joys await you in the next life – the afterlife.* Both girls tensed up, each of them fingering their respective weapons. *Can you see it? Good.* The projector flickered off as the reel ran out and moments later the walls ground open.

Before she even saw what lay beyond, Ruby rolled a pulse grenade in either direction, flinching slightly as they both burst open in large domes of visible static. Through that Veronica and Vince began their own attack, with the scribe launching forward at the nearest machine – a Mr Gutsy. She batted aside its gangly limbs that were trying to both saw her in half _and_ barbecue her, and began battering its body with blow after blow from her power-fist.

Vince on the other hand skirted the initial blast of electrical energy, approaching a sentry bot and darting about its body. Already confused from the EMP, the bulky machine could only spin awkwardly as Vince hovered circles around it, peppering it with weak, but lethally accurate shots from his energy weapon. Joints, sensors and weaker sections of the automaton's hull were all fair play to the nimble A.I.

Ruby held back, raising her plasma rifle in as steady a grip as she could manage. Her targets were the turrets on the ceilings; they were twitching erratically at the moment - their sensors disoriented from the grenades – but that wouldn't last. Breathing out slowly she made sure to line up her sights before squeezing the trigger. The bright bolt of energetic goop slammed home on the turret's gun barrel, melting the metal and rendering the machine useless.

She cried out in pain though, when a red lance of energy burned into her upper arm. The turret on the other side had regained its senses and was targeting her. Before it could get off another shot though, a bright blue bolt struck it in the casing; not enough to damage it, but enough to distract it. Ruby took her chance to line up her second shot. Her hands weren't as steady and her shot went slightly wide, only glancing the turret.

It worked all the same though as the green goop made short work of the metal hull, melting through to the more delicate electronics inside. With a fizzle, the turret twitched for a few moments before hanging limp and inert. Around the same time, Veronica finished up with her last opponent, a brain-bot. She was right up close to the thing, ducking low to avoid its sonic attacks while pummelling its casing with brutal punches.

Eventually she reared back, twisting her body in tight before lashing out with a devastating right hook, punching right through the metal and obliterating the CPU inside. She pulled her hand out, panting but grinning, as her eyes sought out the next foe. When she didn't spot one she relaxed, the grin not quite fading even as she spotted Ruby cradling her arm. "You alright?"

The redhead just nodded; the burn was painful but not debilitating. It would probably need seen to so it didn't get infected, but she could manage until then. "Let's just get this over with." She asserted through gritted teeth. "What's on that mainframe's probably just going to piss me off anyway, that'll help me forget the pain."

* * *

She wasn't wrong, when they had downloaded the archives, two specific files had stood out. One was a message from the remaining inhabitants of the Vault after their bloody civil war, all five of them. However when they told the computer they weren't going to sacrifice anyone anymore – whereupon Ruby and Veronica learned the computer had been threatening to cut off their power and water otherwise – they had received a rather… ironic message.

It was sickening really, that after years of needless killing, all it would have taken to end was for them to just say no. When they finally did, it was already far too late, and the automated response's kind words of congratulations merely served to twist that knife in deeper. The two girls had plenty of time to mull that awful message over in their minds on the vertibird-ride back to the test site, where they quickly dropped off the radiation scrubber and carried on to Hidden Valley.

This time nobody seemed to mind that Ruby wasn't blindfolded before entry, they just got out the way of the clearly irritated redhead storming through the bunker. She barged into the Elder's office without waiting to be let in and threw the holodisk containing the Vault's mainframe right at Maxson. The old man caught it without even flinching, quickly checking it over while Ruby glared daggers at him from across the room.

"The Brotherhood appreciates your services." He drawled uncaringly, handing the disk off to McNamara before he casually turned his attention on the engineer. "We'll send a team of knights over to the test site as soon as the radiation reaches tolerable levels." With that he turned back to the mountain of paperwork dismissively.

"Well?" Ruby demanded heatedly after the man continued to ignore her.

"I believe you'll have to be more specific." He intoned without even looking up.

"What now? I understand you guys found a radio station." Her voice carried her testy mood quite well, but Maxson remained unmoved.

"Brotherhood operations are none of your concern outsider; when you are needed, we'll let you know." He explained without missing a beat, somehow managing to sound bored as he casually dressed her down.

"That's it? How am I supposed to help if you don't tell me anything?!" She cried indignantly.

This time the High Elder _did_ look up, seeming thoroughly unimpressed. "I think you have done enough 'help' already." However he at least gave the girl credit, she didn't shy away from his gaze. "If you must know, we intend on taking Black Mountain come the morning. Whether or not you are a part of that operation remains to be seen." With that he returned to his work, actually waving her off this time.

The redhead span angrily on a heel and stormed out of the room, only to be caught by Veronica. "Hey hey, woh; calm down." She forced the girl to look at her for a few moments, letting her take in deep breaths.

When her shoulders finally relaxed, the scribe let her go. "Sorry. That man though he's… urgh." She shook her head and tried not to swear in case another Brotherhood member overhead. "He gets under my skin."

Veronica just smiled reassuringly. "Yeah, well he's also the guy that can have you vaporised by snapping his fingers. Just try to bear it for now." After a few moments the girl nodded reluctantly, making Veronica grin. "Good, now how about that tour I owe you?"

* * *

 **[Tibbets Prison - Main Server]**

 **¬Uplink: Establishing**

 **¬Mainframe: Online – Command link re-established**

 **¬WARNING:  
¬Damage detected: Outer Wall  
¬Prisoner escape: Blocks {4-6} **

**¬ARGOS unit: Online**

 **¬Trace program engaged**

 **¬WARNING:  
¬Collars {32a – 42c – 51a – 12a – 15b}: Connection severed**

 **¬Collars outside designated sectors: {15}**

 **¬Initiating return protocol: ARGOS unit {deployed}**


	24. Mounting pressure

**To disclaim or not to disclaim... is not the question; I don't want to get sued.**

* * *

 _"There are no shortcuts in evolution." – Louis D. Brandeis_

* * *

"So you've really never had any proper training with a gun?" Veronica asked, looking at the target on the other end of the range sceptically.

"Nah, some of the older residents kept the armoury cleaned and all the weapons in working order, but that was a high-level job for us. None of us actually used the guns, too dangerous." Ruby's voice took on a melancholic edge at the end there and Veronica was quick to move past it.

"Those are some good shots, I've seen initiates shoot worse." She complimented, earning a satisfied look from the engineer. "You didn't get any help with it after you left the Vault?"

Ruby shook her head, aiming down the sights of the plasma rifle again and squeezing off another shot. It landed just shy of the second ring, but at a distance of thirty feet that was pretty decent for her. "Never had the time, just kind of… picked it up as I went along." She blinked when she pulled the trigger only to get a click; she kept forgetting this prototype sacrificed capacity for power. "I'm technically cheating anyway." She admitted as she exchanged the cell. "Any idiot can use an energy weapon; they have no recoil. I'm horrendous with any _real_ guns."

Veronica just shrugged. "Whatever gets the job done; you won't hear any complaints from the Brotherhood on that front." They lived and died by their energy weapons.

Ruby smiled as she gave the gun back, looking around the target range with a satisfied nod; she could get used to doing this on occasion. "So, where to next on Tour de la 'Ronica?"

Before the Scribe could answer though a new voice cut in imperiously. "Well well well, what do we have here? Finally decided to stop covering up the hair Veronica?" The intruder was a slim, attractive girl with well-kempt blonde hair.

"Melissa." Veronica greeted with a roll of her eyes, glancing over and almost forcing a smirk onto her face. "Oh hey, I see that lazy eye's doing a lot better, I can barely notice it anymore."

Melissa twitched slightly, but otherwise didn't seem phased, her attention drifting to Ruby, specifically her rather grubby appearance. The redhead hadn't had a chance to clean up since their foray to the Vaults and she still bore the grime from both. "So who's the friend? Another heart waiting to be broken on the reckless ride that is the Santangelo romance?" Ruby actually flinched at that, the comments striking a little closer to home than expected.

"Careful what you say Watkins." Veronica warned, her tone growing immediately icier.

If Melissa noticed she didn't show it, her smirk only growing as she goaded a reaction out of the scribe. "What, they're just allowing you to bring your romantic conquests into the bunker now Veronica? Or is she not the only one you're paying by the hour?"

Ruby's hand began to tremble; the girl was seriously tempted to make a grab for the plasma rifle and Veronica seemed to sense her agitation. "What do want Melissa? Don't you have some made-up 'handy _'_ work to be doing? Or did Taggart need a bit of rest after your last 'job _'?"_

The blonde visibly bristled at the insinuation before recomposing herself and smirking. "You can make your childish jokes all you like _'Ronica_." She stressed purposefully. "Just because _some_ talents are recognised, you don't have to act so jealous." She stated with a bit of undue pomp.

Veronica merely quirked a brow. "What are you talking about now _'Lissa_? Or did somebody finally bonk your brains out?" She chuckled at the blonde's indignant expression before mumbling so that only Ruby could hear. "They've certainly tried enough."

Melissa didn't catch the insult, but knew the scribe well enough to understand the insinuation. "I'll have you know." She started, sticking her nose into the air with a sneer even Ruby's mother would have approved of. "Even the _Elder_ has begun to notice my contributions to the Brotherhood."

Veronica just continued to stare deadpan. "Another scratch on the headboard then?"

Melissa's lips twitched. "He's assigned me directly under the outsider we're receiving help from during the next operation." She looked particularly smug as she said this. "Apparently they're from _Vault 53._ " She didn't even wait so see Veronica's reaction before carrying straight on. "Yeah, exactly… _that_ Vault. Once one of their famous technicians recognises my talents, not even not even _you_ will be able to disparage me anymore."

She looked down, expecting the two of them to be suitably impressed, only for an awkward silence to ensue for a few seconds. Finally Ruby couldn't hold it back anymore and burst out laughing, Veronica quickly joining her as the pair descended into uncontrollable laughter. Watkins practically shook with rage as she watched them clutch their sides, before stamping her foot in childish frustration. "What's so damn funny?!"

Ruby managed to look up from her fits, hands supported on her knees as she looked right up at the blonde with the biggest grin on her face. "Your Elder… seems to have forgotten… to mention that… _I'm_ the engineer… from Vault 53." She managed between her sniggers; she straightened up, drawing on whatever self-control she had to stop laughing for the moment. "The only thing _I'm_ recognising here is a bitch with an undeserved superiority complex."

She quickly lost it again though when Melissa's face lit up a bright red, as though she were trying to match Ruby's hair shade for shade. The girl didn't seem to know what to do, her mouth opening and closing like a fish caught on dry land. Finally she let out an odd noise – like a cross between an enraged yell and a high-pitched scream of frustration – turned on a heel, and stomped from the room.

"Th-Thank you." Veronica just about managed to get out between decidedly un-lady-like guffaws. "I think I'm going to remember this moment for the rest of my life." She shook her head, still laughing. "I don't think I've ever seen Melissa speechless like that; it was beautiful." She grinned brightly. "Man, I love you."

And just like that, as Veronica realised what she said and Ruby started in shock, the laughter dried up.

"Oh no, I mean…" Veronica quickly backpedalled, her mind throwing out images of that horrendous trip to Broken Springs. She didn't want to go through that again; not now, not after everything that had happened to fix that mess. "Of course, it's just…" However for all the words she sputtered as Ruby stared at her, face indecipherable, none of them were the word she actually wanted to say. "I just meant, you know…"

"'Ronica." The scribe's moth continued to work silently as Ruby addressed her in a quiet, thoughtful tone. "It's okay." _That_ finally managed to bring the brunette up short as Ruby continued. "I… I'm just a kid so I can't really say if I even know what love is but…" The girl chewed her tongue for a moment "…my life is better with you in it; I know that much." When the redhead looked up, it was with a small, gentle smile.

"Ruby…" Veronica murmured, only to be interrupted; if Ruby stopped now she knew she'd likely never get the words out.

"Despite all this… shit, we've been through…" Again the redhead struggled for the words "…I couldn't imagine it all without you." She chuckled quietly. "I would have crumbled a long time ago I think." She nodded, as if reaffirming her own thoughts. "Even in the Sierra Madre, what kept me going was the thought that I might never be able to tell you goodbye, or share more adventures with you, or…" She threw her hands up and let out a gasping sort of laugh "…I don't even know! I just didn't want to miss it, any of it."

She sighed, but still managed to hold onto the smile. "I don't know _what_ exactly this is… or where it's going…" She chuckled again "…and maybe it's the looming threat of nuclear missiles hanging over our heads…" She shook her head, getting back on track. "What this stupid kid is trying to say is, that I think… or, I want to say… I love you t-"

She didn't even get to finish the thought before she was pulled forward, wrapped in warm arms as Veronica tried to – from her perspective anyway – hug the life out of her. Before the scribe could respond though the pair were interrupted by a cough from the entrance to the room. "Am I interrupting something here?" A gruff voice cut in, causing the two to separate in an instant, matching red-faces between them.

"Yes." "No." Ruby and Veronica stated at the same time, respectively. Ruby glanced at the scribe with a frown only for the brunette to shy away from her gaze.

"Whatever." The large man commented indifferently.

"What are you, uh, doing here Ramos?" Veronica piped up, skimping past the momentary crack in her voice.

The man cast a look between the two before grunting; it wasn't his problem. "I've come on the Elder's orders." Veronica visibly straightened up at that. "It's been decided that you and your… friend here…" He threw a decidedly unfriendly glance Ruby's way "…will join the operation tomorrow. That means I need to make sure _you…"_ Another ugly look at the engineer "…are capable of wearing power armour."

"I am." Ruby shot back immediately, feeling very defensive all of a sudden. "You don't need to worry about that."

Ramos sniffed derisively. "Oh I assure you, _worry_ was not my concern." He straightened up, making Ruby realise he had been steadily leaning forward, casually showing off the disparity between their heights. "You will be given a spare set of T45-b armour from the reserves, any damage it receives you will either pay for, or repair." He sneered. "You _are_ the engineering 'wunderkind', right?"

"It won't even have a scratch on it." The redhead shot back challengingly, causing Ramos to lift a single eyebrow.

"That remains to be seen." He turned smartly on a heel and walked from the room, but not before stopping at the doorway, fingers clicking restlessly on the frame. "Do try not to die, I've been told you're of… some kind of importance." Then he clanked off, swiftly disappearing around the end of the corridor despite his clunky attire.

"What the hell was his problem?" Ruby grouched when they were alone again.

Veronica just smiled weakly. "Ramos is… complicated; he's not the fondest of those outside of the Brotherhood." She scratched the back of her head awkwardly. "He's a big softie really, once you get to know him." She sounded unconvincing even to herself. "He was probably just trying to scare you a little."

"Well let him know it didn't work." Ruby asserted defiantly. "And that he's a bit of an ass!" She called down the hallway for good measure. Veronica let her take a few breaths to cool down after that, allowing the engineer to think over the conversation without the haze of irritation clouding her thoughts. "So… we're going on an operation then?" She finally stated, rather lamely.

"Seems that way." The scribe agreed.

"What do you know about Black Mountain?" That had been where Maxson had said the operation was taking place, if she recalled correctly.

"Actually… surprisingly little considering the bunker's at the base of it, just on the west side." Veronica admitted. "There's some kind of radio station up there broadcasting most hours of the day, but it's a total joke, just a bunch of crazy ramblings from a delusional super mutant."

Ruby blinked at that little nugget of information. "Super mutants?"

"Mhmm." Veronica nodded. "The whole mountain's covered in them as far as I know, all under the control of the same crazy guy on the radio. Me and some of the other scribes used to listen into it for fun on breaks, some of the stuff they say is just-"

"Wait wait wait." Ruby held up her hands. "The radio tower the Brotherhood is taking, is some kind of super mutant stronghold?" Veronica just nodded. "But, isn't that huge? Surely an operation to take the mountain would be some big thing right? It can't be easy! People could die, all because we needed a radio-broadcasting station?"

Veronica quickly raised a placating hand. "I wouldn't think of yourself so instrumental there, trust me." She explained calmly. "The Brotherhood has been after that place for a long time; it's a powerful broadcasting facility on a defendable position. They've just never been able to justify the expense of assets given the situation we're in. You're more like… a catalyst, for something that was inevitable anyway."

Ruby grimaced. "Well that's… comforting." A silence fell between them for a long few moments before Ruby perked up again. "Have you ever fought one?" Veronica looked across inquisitively. "A super mutant I mean." She thought back to that hulking mass of blue muscle she'd seen back at Repconn; it had been terrifying dead, never mind trying to kill her in return.

The scribe looked shifty for a few moments. "Well uh, no… not exactly. I've seen a few, some of the more intelligent ones don't like to start trouble immediately, and I've heard some stories from the older paladins… but, no, I haven't." She shrugged with a rather forced smile. "How hard could it be though right? They're just big guys."

Ruby huffed, shaking her head of the absurdity of the situation she had landed them in. "Yeah, just big guys." Big guys with arms the size of her body that could probably pull her in two; and by all means tomorrow they might just try that. Somehow she didn't think that power armour would stop them for long.

The next day couldn't be far enough away.

* * *

Ruby grunted as she was pushed off the vertibird by the paladin behind her. Troops swarmed out of the craft and three others like it all around her. The sound of clanking mixed with the wheeze of hydraulics in a cacophonous din as a platoon of power-armoured troopers were offloaded at the base of the mountain. Weak sunlight glinted off their well-polished armour as they formed up into ranks.

The redhead was hurriedly manhandled to the back of the line. Moving in the X-01 had become quite easy to her with practise; the T-45d was clunky and unwieldly by comparison. Somewhere in the din of tin-soldiers and the roaring noise of four different vertibirds she lost sight of Veronica. She could have been anybody within that faceless mass of polished silver. Over the helmets radio she just about made out the High Elder's voice, but couldn't hear a thing of what he was saying.

Then, all of a sudden, they were moving; a procession of steel slowly marching up the winding mountain road. One mind, one body… a lot of guns. The first sighs of resistance were at a crudely-made outpost low down on the mountain. Ruby knew then that they were in for a long walk. They had time of course; scouts were causing distractions at key NCR locations around the Mojave to keep their eyes off the mountain. The sheer face of the mountain though… it was daunting.

The mutants trickled in at first, dumb foot-soldiers with more muscles than brains swinging crude clubs of rebar and swords made out of car bumpers. Those would be the so-called 'second-generation' mutants she had heard about. They fell swiftly enough to the barrage of plasma and laser-fire the Brotherhood bore down on them. A few powered through their injuries, great craters burned out of their flesh as they roared their battle-cries.

None reached the column of tight-knit steel.

Things grew more heated as they moved further up the mountain. Bigger mutants, this time with actual guns and the know-how to use them started appearing. Horrific eldritch abominations they used as attack-dogs began spitting great wads of toxic bile at them, strong enough to begin sizzling away at the first layers of their armour. The ever-present sound of bullets ricocheting off metal grew deafening, even within the sound-dampening helmets.

However the march continued, an unrelenting mass of steel that powered on. At the head of it all: the High Elder, setting a gruelling pace for a man his age. If Ruby hadn't seen the heavily-modified laser rifle in his hands, she would have though his gaze alone was disintegrating the mutants that got in his way.

The first real obstacle though was when a loud voice crackled over her radio, yelling {Mini-gun!} It was quickly drowned out by the terrible din of what sounded like a thousand gunshots at once. The entire front-line of the platoon was peppered by hundreds of tiny bullets. Each only did minimal damage, putting tiny dents and pock-marks in the metal, but a man could die as easily from a thousand tiny cuts as from one large wound.

The first to go down was someone on the flank, a lucky shot struck one of the hydraulics in his leg and he was instantly brought to a knee. Seeing this, the mutant with the mini-gun focused in on the man, drowning him under a hail of bullets that slowly but surely rent away at his armour, actually tearing into the plating like it was under an angle-grinder. More paladins tried to move to help the man, but he had fallen out of file and they too were under fire.

Then, with a single far-off crack, it stopped. The mutant's head burst into a bloody shower of gore and he toppled over, dead. The wounded soldier raised a weak thumb in a seemingly random direction. However through the advanced optics of her helmet Ruby could just about make out the silhouette of a camouflaged man, prone on a ridge; he was already lining up his next shot with his rifle.

Other mutants' heads continued to 'randomly' explode as the pushed their way up the mountain and, despite the continued resistance, they made it to the top. A strange sort of village had been constructed there, using the more derelict buildings of the compound as well as what looked to be one of the satellite dishes, flipped over into a makeshift roof. It was an eerie place, looking as though it had just been abandoned; after everything they had been through it was just too quiet.

Unfortunately it didn't stay that way.

All of a sudden the knight next to Ruby crumpled, crying out in pain as the entire chest section of his armour was caved it. Moments later more cries arose from around the formation as invisible attackers brutally tore into their outer flanks. {Nightkin, switch vision!} Rang clearly through the radio; however Ruby was frozen, staring at the slight ripple in the air that stood over the fallen knight.

She could just about make out the very edges of their enormous weapon where the light was most warped, even as they rose it to take another swing. Before they could do so though, a lance of red tore right through it. With a crackle of energy the stealth field faded and Ruby was able to see the blue behemoth slump to the ground, sans its head.

{Get in the game outsider.} Crackled in her ear and with a start she realised her saviour was Ramos; however the man had already moved on to other targets.

By the time Ruby had fumbled with her helmet long enough to switch over to thermal vision, it was already over. The Brotherhood's retaliation to the ambush was swift and brutal. In no time at all around a dozen Nightkin corpses lay cooling on the ground. When the dust settled, a quick sound-off was called through the radio; there were a fair few injuries, but thankfully no casualties.

The platoon moved forward while scouts stayed behind to tend to the wounded, sometimes having to physically pry them out of their mangled armour. Ruby grimaced as she trudged past, wondering at the brute strength of these creatures to so easily crumple an armoured exoskeleton like so much tin-foil. It could have just as easily been her…

Resistance dropped off heavily after that; a few stragglers wandered out of buildings as they reached the facility-proper but they were picked off with ease. Likewise, a mutant up on a catwalk bellowed a war cry at them, going for the rocket launcher strapped to its back, but its head was separated from its shoulders before it could so much as touch the trigger. They waited a few minutes for any others to emerge before the all clear was sounded.

Ruby was so taken in by the moment of peace, that when she was patted on the back she was almost certain she would have jumped five feet in the air if not for the metric tonne of metal weighing her down. It was the High Elder, she knew because the man had removed his helmet and was already in the process of lighting up a cigar.

"Well Vault-dweller? Our part in all this arrangement is done, go fulfil yours." He drawled, as if he hadn't just led a procession of death up a mountain for the last half hour. "My knights tell me the test-site should be clean to work in within two days and they estimate a further two to make one of the rockets operational." He exhaled a cloud of smoke as he walked away. "You have until then to retrofit this facility to our needs."

Ruby just stood there, a little shocked by the suddenness of it all, before shaking her head of it. "Uh, right." By the time she actually voiced anything though the man was long gone, trudging toward a vertibird that was touching down.

She ignored that; he was right anyway. The Brotherhood had gotten her here and now it was her job to make sure this place could accurately guide a rocket to a low-orbit satellite. She moved toward what looked to be the main broadcasting building, removing her helmet as a few others were doing. In her head she began mulling over what she knew about radio technology, dredging up memories of days fixing the PA-room in the Vault.

She was so immersed in her thoughts that she didn't notice the small commotion around the door to the facility until she was practically in the thick of it. "What's going on?" She asked the paladins milling around the entrance.

"Two of our operatives haven't reported back from the building's sweep yet." One of the bulky men answered absently, obviously listening to something over his radio. "We can't let anyone pass before we've made sure-"

He was cut off by a murderous scream as the door to the building burst open; quite literally, the metal door was rent off its hinges as something came barrelling out. Ruby stumbled back from one of the most ludicrous and terrifying sights she had ever seen. A Nightkin, larger than the others she had seen, wearing what looked to be a fake blonde wig and heart-shaped glasses, stormed out of the building.

It was yelling incoherently, practically frothing at the mouth. Immediately it was surrounded by guns, all pointed in… her direction? The problem was that she was holding out one of the paladins in front of her like a shield, actually lifting the man up – armour and all.

{Put the paladin down mutant.} One of the Brotherhood demanded, causing the mutant to snap her attention his way.

"You damn… tin cans… I'll kill you! How dare… you step into… Utobitha! Ronda! Ronda! We'll kill them Ronda!" She yelled in a strange, gnashing tone; Ruby idly realised that she had never heard a super mutant speak before. She could probably do without it again. She took an involuntarily step back as the mutant moved forward, unintentionally drawing attention to herself. The mutant's head snapped her way so that she could see into its beady, bloodshot eyes.

They looked positively murderous.

"Hu…mans! Just die!"

Ruby's eyes widened as it suddenly threw the limp paladin, right at her. Her breath left her in one large gasp as he impacted with her chest, throwing her back and knocking the wind right out of her. He rolled off her when they hit the floor so she wasn't pinned, but that was the least of her concerns as the rabid mutant jumped at her. Muscled legs straddled her as the blue-skinned brute proceeded to slam her hands down on her chest plate, caving the metal in to the point where the engineer was struggling to breath.

This close she could actually see the creature frothing at the mouth. Its wig had slipped back and its glasses were gone completely, giving it a terrifying appearance. For a single moment the two of them locked eyes before it let out a furious bellow and aimed a meaty fist right at her exposed face.

It never landed though.

The mutant slowly brought its head around from where it had snapped back. Blood dripped slowly from the corner of its mouth as it snarled at its attacker.

"Don't touch her you ugly son of a bitch." Veronica growled, cocking her fist back for another right hook. The mutant avoided it this time, leaning back and getting to its feet in one movement, freeing Ruby. The scribe pressed the attack, attacking with fast, vicious punches that were just meant to drive the Nightkin back a bit.

Ruby used the opportunity to weakly hit her suit's emergency release, gasping in air gratefully as the caved-in chest plate separated with a hiss. She looked up to find Veronica locked in a heated struggle with the mutant. Despite its bulk, the creature proved to be surprisingly nimble and it seemed all Veronica could do just to avoid the thing. Her suit was making her movements slow and clunky, but was at least dispersing the force when the blows glanced her.

It didn't look good for the scribe, at least until the Nightkin suddenly cried out in pain. It stumbled back, clutching the new burn on its leg, courtesy of a nearby paladin. Veronica used the opportunity to get right in close, twisting her body back before unloading a brutal uppercut right into its jaw. The power fist made an incredibly satisfying clank as the Nightkin stumbled back.

It wasn't disoriented long though, and with a manic yell, it launched itself at the scribe. Veronica was ready this time though, nimbly shifting out the way of the blind charge while bringing her fist around to catch the mutant right in the temple. It staggered away, trying to blink away the stars in its vision before screaming out in pain as another lance of energy tore into its arm.

This time it was taken to a knee, and Veronica didn't intend to let it back up. The scribe wound up her punch, only to be caught off guard as the Nightkin swung its fist madly, catching her in the side. Her armour was dented from the blow and she was sent reeling back. The mutant recovered quickly, immediately going for the kill. It grabbed the scribe by the helmet, lifting her off the ground with a snarl and began to squeeze.

Ruby's heart clenched as Veronica let out a piercing scream that echoed through the radios of the paladins nearby. It cut off suddenly when she was dropped, the mutant staggering back from a brutally accurate shot to the back of the head that incinerated its tacky wig and left an ugly burn across its scalp.

Its yell of pain was the last though as Veronica pried off her helmet, took a split second to regain her bearings and launched herself forward. She put her all into a last-ditch effort, launching her power-fist right at the thing's ugly face. The gruesome crunch of a skull being caved in made even a few of the knights visibly cringe. However, when the loser slumped to the floor dead, it was Veronica who was left standing, blinking confusedly and not quite believing what she had just done.

That seemed to be the general consensus of the Brotherhood members watching too, as nobody said anything for a fair few moments. Ruby, helpfully decided to break the silence.

"Well, that was fucking awesome." She muttered in astonishment.

Veronica let out a strangled chuckle in acknowledgment and, just like that, the trance was broken. The Brotherhood members quickly moved to treat the wounded paladin as the scribe wandered over to the redhead dazedly. "You okay?" She asked, still looking a little out of it.

"I think I should be asking you that." The engineer shot back, looking at the nasty dent in Veronica's armour.

The scribe just looked down confusedly, not having noticed the damage with the adrenaline coursing through her. "Oh… right."

On that note Ruby looked back at the disassembled remains of her own armour, still lying on the ground. "Ramos was just kidding about the whole 'you break, it you fix it' thing, right?"

Veronica shook herself out of her funk and grinned, slapping the girl on the back. "Only a little. Just put it on the to-do list."

Ruby sighed, turning to look at the radio facility as she ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah, that thing just keeps getting longer…"

* * *

 **[Poseidon Systems Network]**

 **¬Ballistic Orbital Missile Base -001 - Full diagnostic report:**

 **¬Vital systems:  
¬Power: 67% - repairing  
¬Hull integrity: 82% - repairing  
¬Alignment thrusters: {4 – 7 – 11} Offline**

 **¬Habitation:  
¬Oxygen: Sectors {2 – 8 – 9 - 10} Critical  
¬Rotation: Within accepted parameters**

 **¬Payload:  
¬Missiles {1-12} Expended  
¬Missiles {13-24} Armed  
¬Launch tubes: Inoperable – repairing **

**¬Estimated time until required satellite operational capacity: 87 Hours**


	25. A stellar send-off

**I disclaim, therefore I am**

* * *

 _"_ _Technology is nothing. What's important is that you have a faith in people, that they're basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they'll do wonderful things with them._ _"_ – Steve Jobs

* * *

For the young engineer, watching the Brotherhood work was a sight to behold. The efficiency with which the scribes relayed instructions to the knights, the methodical workmanship on the various systems… everything. Around her they displayed a kind of quiet respect, taking her instructions without a word of protest. The broadcast facility had been a wreck when they had occupied it; in just four days it was essentially up to par.

She had especially enjoyed witnessing a group of knights using power armour to lift and carry a repaired satellite dish – which must have weighed tens of tonnes – over to a waiting vertibird, which was then used to hoist it into place like some makeshift crane. She had never witnessed repairs on this scale and, setting aside the whole 'end of the world' scenario that continued to loom over them, she was rather glad for the privilege.

It was certainly a story to tell if she survived all of this.

"Hey Red. Miss me?" A familiar voice called, causing Ruby to look up from the console she was tweaking with a beaming smile.

"'Ronica!" She rushed over to the scribe and nearly tackled her to the floor with her hug. The last four days had been fun, but somewhat hollow without Veronica.

"Well, this is a pleasant welcome; none of the guys over at the test site _ever_ hug me as hard as you." The brunette chuckled, hugging her friend back. "Not that they ever actually hug me… but that's beside the point."

"How is it over there?" The redhead asked.

"Same old, same old." Veronica gave an airy wave. "Bunch of headless chickens that'd fall to pieces without yours truly around." She gave a casual shrug. "Chris is alright; as rough as that guy can be with people, he know his stuff about rockets."

"That's good." Ruby replied, rather lamely as the two lapsed into an awkward silence.

\ _I am also here, if you would care to know._ / Vince interceded dryly, causing Ruby to look over at the floating robot with a grin.

"It's good to see you too Vince." She greeted with a roll of her eyes. "Been keeping 'Ronica in line?" She ignored the indignant 'Hey!' from said brunette.

\ _As much as one can, anyway._ / The A.I responded good-naturedly, also ignoring the much louder 'Hey!' from the scribe.

"It's not fair when you two gang up on me." Veronica groused, crossing her arms petulantly for a moment. She quickly sobered though, turning to Ruby with a grimace. "All fun aside though, you know what me being here means right?"

Ruby's smile evaporated in an instant. "The rocket's ready?"

The scribe nodded grimly. "As soon as they get the go ahead from the scribes here, they're going to start; that means they want you over there as soon as possible."

Ruby sighed out her resignation, biting her lip for a moment before nodding. "Everything's done here." She walked over and picked up a holodisk from a nearby console." I just need to upload this to the navigation computer at Repconn and everything's good to go." She admitted reluctantly.

"Why does it have to be you, Ruby?" Veronica muttered, causing the girl to look up in surprise.

"'Ronica…" The redhead didn't get the chance to speak though.

"No really; why you?" She pleaded. "You could take the Pip-boy off! Any Knight could go up there and do it. I think-" She was forcefully cut off from further pleas when Ruby stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the girl, silencing her instantly.

"Please 'Ronica, don't make this any harder." She murmured into the girl's collar.

The scribe shuddered for a few moments before going slack, returning the hug with resignation. "It's not fair." She muttered. "It shouldn't be you."

Ruby looked down when they separated, unable to meet the other girl's eye. "This was all my mistake, it's my responsibility to fix it." When she looked up she bore a weak, unconvincing smile. "Besides, who else could I trust to do all this?" Her humourless chuckle plucked at Veronica's heart. "One of your scribes might mess it up."

Veronica was about to say something to the contrary, maybe a weak protest that the scribes could handle it, or that he Brotherhood had the resources to make it work no matter what. However Ruby didn't let her, giving a painfully forced grin as she lifted a hand. "Oh, on that note!" She chirped with faux enthusiasm. "I got you guys something." She walked back over to where she had been working and reaching into her satchel. "Presents, I guess."

Veronica's frown deepened. "Ruby, don't make it out like this is some kind of good-"

"Vince!" The redhead interrupted, ignoring Veronica's protests as she hurried over to the eyebot. "I'm not entirely sure how well this will work, but if it does I think you'll like it." She held up an odd, dome-like device that was glowing with soft blue light.

\ _Ruby, what exactly_ is _that?_ / He questioned suspiciously; it didn't look like any kind of technology he recognised.

This time the redhead's smile was a bit more real. "It's a hologram projector; I've been fiddling around with it for the past four days and had the idea to integrate it into your systems." She skirted around the machine and opened up its back panel. "If it works, then…" She slotted the modified projector inside the eyebot and quickly began to mess around with the internal components "…you should have…" She'd already mapped out how she was going to do this in her head so it only took a few moments "… a real body!"

With a small fizz a blue figure suddenly appeared in the room, a see-through projection of a handsome man in a suave suit standing perfectly still.

Ruby stepped back, admiring it with a nervous smile. "Sorry I didn't have time to adjust any of the visuals, but there were a few pre-sets; this is the cashier." The figure flickered, changing to one of the armoured security holograms that had been a bane to Ruby in the clinic. It changed again, this time to a beautiful young woman in a stunning dress, then finally back to the cashier.

\ _This… is an interesting gift._ / Vince intoned slowly as the hologram slowly began to move its transparent limbs; jerkily and awkward at first, but that was to be expected. It was odd though as, despite her looking at the hologram, Vince's voice still came from the eyebot; that would take some getting used to. \ _Where did you get this?_ /

"The Sierra Madre." Ruby explained as Veronica prodded the hologram experimentally, yelping when it yielded resistance. "A lot of the technology was really advanced there; this in particular caught my eye."

The holographic Vince slowly curled its hand into a fist in short, twitchy motions before unfurling it. \ _Thank you, this is very thoughtful._ / He took a step forward only to plant his foot awkwardly and stumble. \ _Well…_ / He started as he righted himself \ _...the programming is certainly advanced._ /

Ruby just grinned. "Glad you like it." Her smile faded once again as Veronica stopped poking Vince and turned to look at her. "Um Vince, could you, uh, wait for us in the Vertibird?" The hologram looked between the two before nodding jerkily.

\ _Of course._ / He walked off awkwardly, struggling to adjust to bipedal movement after getting used to simply hovering everywhere.

When he was gone Veronica shyly moved forward, refusing to meet Ruby's eye. "So…" She began lamely, looking up with a mix of curiosity and reluctance. "You've got something for me?" She tried a weak smile of her own, but it was every bit as unconvincing as the engineer's. "I hope it's a dress."

"Not quite." Ruby rummaged around in her satchel again and withdrew something Veronica definitely had _not_ been expecting.

The look of surprise on her face was all the redhead needed. "Is that…"

Ruby grinned, genuinely this time. "Yeah, I've had a lot of time to mess around with mine, and… well, the Brotherhood pretty much allowed me to order anything I liked in during the repairs so the parts weren't hard to find." She tucked some hair behind her ear. "Do you like it?"

Veronica didn't even look up, unable to tear her gaze away from the fully-functional Pip-boy 3000 in her hands. Ruby shifted awkwardly at the prolonged silence. "I thought that it might be a bit much, or maybe… you wouldn't like the model; I mean, the wiring's a bit rough and I just had to port over the programming from mine; I didn't have the time after all to-"

"Shut up you idiot." Veronica interrupted softly, stepping forward to wrap the redhead up in her arms. "I love it."

Ruby froze for a moment before relaxing into the embrace. "Good." She sighed as they separated. "I mean, I wanted to give it to you at a good time and… well, there may not be a better time than now."

Veronica gave a cocky smirk. "Oh come on, don't make it sound like you're walking to your death or anything." Her confidence faded somewhat when she saw Ruby's sombre expression. "I mean, come on… it's you. You'll just go up there and fix it, like always." Ruby's expression stayed dour. "Right?"

The redhead just sighed. "I have to be realistic about this Veronica; ODYSSEUS already locked me out once, even with the codes. Who's to say he won't just do it again?" She threw her hands up, motioning to the control station. "All of this will have been for nothing!"

Veronica took a step back, she didn't like the edge to Ruby's tone. "What are you saying?"

The redhead bit her lip. "What I'm saying is, the Brotherhood might not be able to aim a weapon at the satellite… but I can."

The scribe blinked. "But that's… that's a good thing right?"

A humourless smile appeared on Ruby's lips. "There's a built in program on your Pip-boy; when activated it will send a signal to Archimedes and reposition it on a pre-set target." She lifted the mangled remains of something out of her satchel. "I uploaded the signal encryption from the rangefinder to the main broadcast console." When she saw Veronica about to protest she raised a hand. "Don't worry, nobody knows. Right now only you or I can fire it."

This all sounded too good to be true for Veronica; she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. "And where is it set to fire on?"

The redhead lifted her arm. "My Pip-boy." Again she saw Veronica about to verbally rip into her and pre-empted her. "It was the only way to get an accurate firing solution on a moving target. As long as I can bounce my Pip-boy's signal off the radio station, Archimedes can always lock on, no matter where I am."

"But why would you…" Veronica looked down at her Pip-boy confusedly. "On mine too?"

Ruby looked at her friend, the girl she loved, with the most serious expression she could muster. "Veronica, you have to promise me that, whatever happens…" She gripped the girl's shoulder suddenly "… _whatever_ happens, if I can't do it… you have to activate Archimedes."

Veronica looked aghast, tearing herself away from the shorter girl. "Ruby I… I can't do that! You know I… I just… I couldn't!"

Ruby got in close again, this time with a pleading expression. "'Ronica please. I can't live with myself if I'm the reason all those people die. That station has to be destroyed; if not by me then it has to be you."

The scribe looked down, blinking rapidly as her mind worked a mile a minute. She understood the reason; that kind of guilt would be immense, enough to crush even Ruby's boundless spirit; but, why her? Why did it have to be her?

Her shoulders sagged in resignation; she knew why. It _had_ to be her; if the Brotherhood knew, they wouldn't hesitate to pull that trigger the moment Ruby reached the satellite. Only she could be trusted to use it as a very last resort. But could she do it? Could she sign the death warrant of the girl she had fallen in love with?

Looking up, into those desperate blue eyes… she knew her answer.

Yes, she would. Because imagining the burden that Ruby would bear, with the lives of thousands weighing on her conscience, was heart-wrenching to the scribe. She wouldn't wish that on anyone, especially the girl… no, _woman_ that she loved.

"O…Okay, I'll do it." She finally muttered, resigned to this fate. She flinched when Ruby moved in close, gently pulling her into yet another hug. This one was not happy though; tears slowly rolled down the scribe's cheeks as she burying her face into the redhead's collar. "I promise, but…" She gulped, sniffing back the tears that refused to stop "…don't let it come to that, please Ruby." When the girl didn't answer she sniffed again. "Ruby?"

The redhead tightened her grip, but stayed silent, unable to bring herself to answer.

* * *

The flight back to the test site felt much longer than it was. Nobody spoke and the sombre atmosphere seemed to affect everybody. Ruby spent the journey staring at her hands, absently rotating the holodisk that contained the navigation data. Likewise, Veronica simply gazed at her Pip-boy, stroking the unpainted metal with her thumb without actually putting it on. Most were thankful then when they touched down, glad to the out of the awkward atmosphere.

However, what they arrived in couldn't conceivably be called better though. As soon as they stepped into the test site they found scribes and knights alike hurrying about in a frenzy. The entire compound seemed in an uproar and the Brotherhood in a panic. At random Veronica grabbed a nearby scribe and span him around.

"What's going on here?" She demanded roughly, startling the man and causing him to go wide-eyed.

"Haven't you heard yet?" His eyes drifted and widened again when they spotted Ruby. "You! The High Elder is waiting for you on the launch platform!" He wrestled his way out of Veronica's grip. "You must go now, there isn't much time left." And with that he scurried off, leaving the arriving party even more confused than when they had entered.

When they finally did reach the launch site, they found Maxson surrounded by a small gathering of scribes, handing out orders swiftly between puffs of his cigar. When he caught sight of Ruby he stopped, pushing his way through them to throw something at the redhead. "Vault-dweller, about damn time."

The girl caught the strange silvery bundle, surprised to find it was the space suit she'd 'liberated' from the Grand Canyon. "Wait, what's going on?" She asked; although by the general mayhem going on around them she could fathom a guess.

"Get changed." The Elder demanded in a gruff tone. "The satellite has just activated its automated firing procedures so we only have around an hour before it releases its payload."

That shocked the entire group, making Ruby freeze up as she pulled the suit up her legs. "An hour?!" She sputtered, speeding up putting on the suit.

Maxson grunted. "We should consider ourselves lucky; if the satellite was manned that figure would be just ten minutes."

That didn't make Ruby feel any better. "Well, how long does the rocket take?"

"Ah, at our best calculations…" Ibsen spoke up, separating himself from the mass of scribes nearby "…twenty seven minutes, if we were to launch immediately." He pushed his glasses up his nose with a quirk of a smile. "It really is a remarkable piece of technology, Repconn were really onto something with their fuel mixtures and…" He trailed off as he found a number of unimpressed eyes staring him down "Ah, I uh… never mind."

Maxson shifted back to the redhead. "You heard the man, we still have time, but we're cutting it close; get your ass in the rocket."

Ruby hastily secured the front of the suit, her face deadly serious. "Right." All the same, she flinched when the hatch of the spacecraft opened with a wheeze of hydraulics. With a resigned sigh she made a move toward it, lifting the helmet over her head. Before she could put it on though she found Veronica in front of her, holding her arms.

Before she could ask what she was doing the scribe quickly leaned in and captured her lips. Understandably confused, the redhead froze, mind struggling to process what was happening. Then a small voice in the back of her head shouted 'Fuck it' and she relaxed into the kiss, returning it. She wasn't very experienced in this regard, so she just tried to pour as much passion and affection into the simple act as she was physically able, revelling in what she could feel from Veronica.

When they finally separated, it was somewhat breathlessly and the two had matching blushes. A cough from the High Elder broke them out of their trance, only causing the red in their cheeks to deepen. Ruby coughed into her hand with a jerky nod. "Right then I'll ah, be going."

Veronica gave a shaky smile, uncaring of the odd looks she was receiving. "I love you."

Ruby's awkward demeanour melted slightly as she gave a weak smile in return. "Yeah." She turned to the rocket, only to find Vince hovering in her way.

\ _I think you mean that_ we'll _be going._ / He corrected, holographic avatar flickering before turning off, leaving only the eyebot. \ _The cockpit doesn't seem large enough for two humans, but I'm sure I'll find space._ /

"Vince?" Was all the redhead could muster, causing the slats on the eyebot's 'face' to rise.

\ _You didn't think I would let you go up there alone, did you?_ / He shot back, using the floating machine to nudge her in the arm.

Ruby teetered a moment, before smiling gratefully, wrapping an arm around the spherical robot. "Thank you."

The A.I merely buzzed. \ _That's what friends are for._ / Once again they were interrupted by a cough from the Elder, this time more forceful as the man tapped his Pip-boy.

"By all means continue, this is very touching." He drawled. "Meanwhile we now have… fifty eight minutes left of Western civilisation."

Ruby glared at the man, didn't he understand touching goodbyes? "Right right, I'm going." He herded Vince into the cockpit, nestling him into a small alcove just behind the seat before stepping in herself, hovering around the entrance for a moment. This didn't feel right; she was about to potentially walk to her death doing something incredibly heroic. She felt as though she needed some kind of last words.

She turned and grinned at the people assembled around. "Somebody better name their kid after me when all of this is over!" And with that the hatch slammed shut and she was forced to strap herself into the chair.

\ _That was terrible, you know that, right?_ / Vince muttered dryly from behind her, causing the engineer to slump in the chair.

"I know; the nerves got the better of me." She admitted morosely; her one chance…

\ _Would you like me to play some music?_ / He offered.

The redhead shrugged. "Couldn't hurt I guess; what did you have in mind?"

She smiled when the sweet tones of Frank Sinatra's 'Come Fly with Me' filled the cramped cockpit.

* * *

Veronica joined the other Brotherhood members on the, now rather cramped, viewing deck. She watched, hands gripping the balcony until her knuckles turned white, as the large dome covering the launch deck unfolded. Her heart nearly skipped a beat when the rocket came into view, gleaming in the afternoon light. From this distance it just looked like a toy, not a three tonne barrel of metal and volatile fuel.

"This _will_ work right?" She snapped at Chris, as the man approached the console.

The gravely-voiced man just gave her a curious look. "If you mean launch, then yes; the rocket is a smaller version of the one my… former associates used. It was easy enough to fix up to the same specification." He fingered the holodisk with the navigation data idly. "Whether it will reach the satellite?" He slotted the disk into the waiting receptacle and tapped in a few commands to the computer. "That'll depend on your redheaded friend's programming skills."

Veronica felt distinctly uncomforted by that; she knew how good Ruby was, but even one mistake…

She couldn't dwell on it long as a high-pitched and steady beep counted down the launch. When it hit zero they all watched as a great gout of flame and smoke erupted from the back of the rocket, lifting it off the mount and carrying it high into the air with incredible acceleration. Veronica wondered what Ruby was feeling in there at that moment, with the immense G-forces pressing her into the seat.

Then it was over, the rocket flew too high to see, leaving nothing but a trail of grey smoke marking its incredible path skywards. The people watching slowly dispersed, including Veronica; she wanted to be at the communication panel when Ruby finally made contact again. She hurried past the people milling around the entrance to the observation room and down the corridor.

"…eems pretty cruel to me, doing that to the young girl."

"Elders orders, you know we can't argue with that."

Veronica paused, blinking at the snippet of conversation she'd overheard and backtracked slightly, ducking into an alcove near where two knights were talking.

"I know, but it's just so… callous, right?" The taller one muttered with a grimace.

The other one shrugged. "Think of it this way, when the pulse-charge goes off the satellite will be destroyed; you'll have saved a lot of lives."

The first sighed. "But, wasn't she going up to do that anyway?" Veronica's heart sunk further into her chest with every word.

"What, and we're just supposed to trust an outsider with that?" When the smaller man saw his partner still looked uncomfortable. "Stop worrying so much; it'll be a quick death. The pulse charge'll go off, ignite the fuel and 'whoosh', everything's over. It'll be painless."

"I suppose." His companion mumbled grimly as the two walked off, leaving Veronica wide-eyed and shocked. The surprise quick gave way to a cold fury though as she stormed down the corridor, eventually reaching the room where she knew the two Elders would be. Without even pausing to think about it she burst right into the room, slamming the doors and surprising the men inside.

"How could you?!" She seethed, completely uncaring that it was the High Elder she was talking to. "How could you do that to her, after everything she's done to make up for her mistake?!" She was actually trembling with rage as the knights' words reverberated in her head. "Do you even understand the lengths Ruby's gone to fix all of this? Do you understand anything of what she's done to ensure that satellite never fires?" The Elders just stared at her, McNamara with incredulity and Maxson with a steady gaze.

"Yet you're just going to kill her anyway." She spat, a silence descending on the room as the two men processed what she'd said.

It was McNamara who broke first, his face turning a virulent shade of red. "Scribe Santangelo, of all the disrespectful, idiotic, insubordinate things you've ever done, this has to be-" He was cut off abruptly as Maxson raised a hand, silencing him in an instant.

He turned to the young scribe and gave her an appraising look. "You are the scribe who fought a Nightkin hand to hand?" Veronica was a little caught off-guard by the sudden shift in topic, but managed to nod through the red haze that had descended over her vision. "Go on then, explain the lengths the Vault-dweller has gone to." He responded evenly.

Again, Veronica was slightly put-out, she hadn't really thought this far ahead in her anger. "Well, you know about Archimedes right?" She began, a little lamely now that the fire in her voice was extinguished.

"The weapons platform?" Maxson quirked an eyebrow. "We have intelligence on the laser system, yes."

"Ruby fixed it." Veronica carried on without missing a beat, drawing another intrigued look from the venerable man. "She fixed it and she found the range-finder, and she promised never to use it again."

"And you never thought to inform the Brotherhood of such a finding?!" McNamara shouted indignantly.

"If you'd seen it fire then you'd never want it either!" The scribe shot back, actually startling the man; he wasn't used to being verbally reposed like that. She returned her attention to Maxson, who was still regarding her with a detached curiosity, like an animal in one of those old-world zoos. "She fixed the laser, and she integrated the firing algorithms into the Black Mountain system." She sighed, lifting her Pip-boy reluctantly. "And she gave me a way to fire it."

At that Maxson just nodded. "And she informed you to fire the laser on her position if she were to fail." Veronica flinched at the blunt wording, but nodded all the same. "And?" She looked up at the man in confusion. "Will you press the trigger, if it comes to that?"

The man spoke with a strange kind of intensity that startled the scribe, but she managed to steel herself and stare right back at him; she was resolute in this decision. "If I have to, because _she_ asked me too."

The High Elder sniffed once before nodding, walking across the room until he was right beside her, facing the opposite direction. "Very well; however if you fail to do so you won't have to worry about those missiles reaching the ground." He straightened up and strode out the room. "I'll kill you myself before they land."

The door slammed behind him definitively, leaving two speechless people behind. However despite just getting a personal death threat from the High Elder of all people, Veronica was smiling.

She had given Ruby her chance; it was up to the redhead now.

* * *

' _Don't be sick in the helmet. Don't be sick in the helmet. Don't be sick in the helmet.'_ Ruby repeated as a mantra in her head as she blasted out of the atmosphere at escape velocity. The sheer Gs were pressing her back into the seat so much it hurt, and it felt like her eyes were going to pop out the back of her head. Her stomach was doing queer little flips as she struggled not to throw up for fear that she'd accidentally drown herself.

That would be an awkward epitaph.

Eventually the speed evened out as the inky black of space replaced the murky blue of the sky. She just sat there for a while, cradling her stomach and making sure nothing came out her mouth but her rapid breaths. Now she understood why astronauts had to train for this crap; she felt lucky not to have blacked out.

However the queasiness _did_ eventually subside enough that she could indulge her curiosity, craning her neck to look out the small, reinforced porthole. Her breath caught in her throat as she looked down at the dirty brown ball that was her planet. Clouds drifted serenely across the sky far below her and in that split second everything just looked so… peaceful. It wasn't quite the blue and green marble she remembered from the pictures growing up, but… it was home.

She was a little surprised when she felt something wet slide down her cheek and quickly wiped the tear away.

\ _My databases don't quite do it justice._ / Vince intoned softly.

"Yeah, under normal circumstances I'd feel pretty privileged to be able to look at it." To think, she was probably the first human in space in over two hundred years. ' _Barring alien abduction of course.'_ She amended jokingly. "But unfortunately, we have a job to do." She reluctantly tore her eyes away from the majestic sight and began carefully examining the flight data coming through her on-board computer.

Her trajectory was a little off, but that's why she was here in person, so she could adjust the minutia and make all of this actually work. The flight was surprisingly boring from that point; not a lot happened save for the occasional bout of nausea or Vince playing music. Other than that, all she did was flip switches, turn dials and sneak the occasional peak out the window.

The computer picked up the satellite before she could see it; the orbiting platform was hidden in the dark-half of the earth right up to the last moment. Then, suddenly, the sun crested the planet and the massive donut-shaped station lit up like a brilliant metal halo hovering in the ether. It was breath-taking, even with the obvious asteroid damage to the hull it managed to strike an imposing presence, like a monument to the old world.

Manoeuvring the rocket proved surprisingly easy, she just ran the automated protocol and it did most of the work for her, allowing her to admire the station right up until a hiss of depressurisation indicated they had docked. It was with great trepidation that Ruby hit the release button, opening the hatch into the flickering white corridor beyond.

When she stepped out though… if she had though the rocket was vomit-inducing, it had nothing on the station itself. While there was gravity, and she could walk somewhat awkwardly, it was dependant on the spin of the station. That meant gravity acted differently at her head and feet and the result was… disorientating to say the least. Any time she moved her head a wave of dizziness passed through her, threatening to upturn the contents of her stomach yet again.

"Urgh." She held her sides as she moved forward to let Vince out. "Space travel's a lot less glamorous than they make it out to be." She wheezed.

\ _It's a good thing I'm not constrained to your delicate biological needs then._ / Vince smarmed as his holographic-self flickered into view, lending a hand to the girl. It was a bit weird to be supported by what was essentially projected light, but in the state she was in, Ruby accepted the help without question.

"Yeah yeah, machine superiority can wait." She groaned, reaching back into the shuttle to open a small access panel the Brotherhood had told her would hold a weapon. She almost laughed when she pulled out the little AEP7 laser pistol. It was almost like she was back in Doc Mitchell's living room and all of this satellite business was a bad dream, just a side effect of her head wound.

Absently she ran a finger through her hair, feeling the slight bump of the scar hidden behind her red locks. No, this wasn't a dream; this was all very real and she had a job to do right now. The reminiscing could come later.

"Come on." She muttered, steadying herself as another bout of dizziness washed over her. "We don't have a lot of time."

Navigating the corridors of the station proved, thankfully, rather easy. There were handy metal plaques bolted to the walls in places and color-coded stripes, like the kind you might find on larger ships. Because of the eerie calm, the first time they ran into anything other than the sputtering fluorescent lighting Ruby nearly shot her foot off from surprise.

A Mister Handy, its white paint faded from age, rounded the corner suddenly and gave the two a start. However it seemed content to ignore them, simply moving over to an exposed access panel to weld a couple of wires together. It was in a sorry state, one of its arms trailing uselessly behind it and listing rather heavily to one side. However they didn't have time to concern themselves with the local machine-life.

They ran into a few more, in varying states of disrepair, but all of them functional enough to carry out their repairs; it at least explained how the satellite was being fixed up with no living crew. It actually made it easier to find the control room; they simply moved in the direction with the highest robot density. On the way though Ruby made a mental note of a metal sign that read 'Escape pods'; always good to have an exit strategy.

It was almost like she was back down in the Grand Canyon as they entered the control room; it was identical save for the fact that this place seemed to be in much better condition. But for once the inner child inside Ruby, who would normally be squealing in delight at all of this, was silent. Instead she immediately made a beeline for the central console. For a few moment she just stared at it, fingers fiddling nervously, before she took a deep breath, cracked her neck and plugged her Pip-boy in.

"Alright, here goes." She muttered to nobody in particular. "Fate of the world hangs in the balance here, so… no pressure." And with that her fingers became a blur of movement.

* * *

 **[Poseidon Systems Network]**

 **¬Warning: Intruder detected – B.O.M.B -001 mainframe**

 _[That's impossible, they would have to be manually accessing the computer up there]_

 **¬Primary firewa- dzbio..asduhnio-SOnoisx. . . . .**

 **¬Warning: Virus in {3,279} sequences detected**

 _[What are you waiting for? Lock them out]_

 **¬Normal security measures: compromised – file override in-ndaokkkkawi..wr..eeewsf. . . . .**

 _[This hacking, I recognise it. It's that girl from the other satellite. How did she get up there?]_

 **¬Warning: Critical systems breach**

 _[Revert manual control to central mainframe. I'll take over from here]_

* * *

Ruby's face contorted as the security suddenly slammed down on her, systematically re-routing every single one of her commands and deleted every infected file she had corrupted. "There you are ODYSSEUS, I knew you'd show up." That was okay, the virus was only supposed to be a distraction anyway. She nodded at Vince, who was plugged into a nearby terminal and received a bob from the eyebot.

* * *

 **¬Files cleansed  
¬Constructing firewalls  
¬Rerouting primary command routes  
¬Generating password algorithms  
¬Burying secondary command routes  
¬Code sequencing ini-**

 **¬WARNING: Data upload detected! -**

 _[Wait… no. What's happening? There's no way a human could be transferring all off… she must have an A.I with her. The processor can't cope with this kind of information dump. Shut it down!]_

 **¬. . . . .**

 _[Dammit, can't rely on that junk program for anything; but still, this will be problematic if left unchecked. Time to think outside the box to buy a bit of time]_

* * *

"Yes!" Ruby exclaimed with almost vindictive pleasure as a massive portion of the security's data management was re-routed to deleting all the junk data Vince uploaded. This was her window to-

"Woah!" She was suddenly thrown off her feet as the entire station seemed to lurch beneath her, throwing her sideways violently. The only thing that prevented her from being thrown into the far wall was Vince's hologram quickly grabbing her hand. However even he seemed to be having problems as his eyebot suddenly rocketed upwards without anything to counteract its thrust.

\ _What's happening?_ / He exclaimed, his avatar flinching as his 'body' thudded against the ceiling with a disturbing clank.

"Bastard must have cut off the satellite's rotation." Ruby grunted, using the flickering blue hand to pull herself back towards the console. "Taking away the gravity's a low blow, but it at least tells us what kind of opponent we're dealing with."

\ _I suppose we're lucky there is no atmosphere present._ / Vince intoned as his eyebot compensated for the microgravity and righted itself.

"Yeah, fucker would've probably tried venting us by now." She tried not to dwell on the thought of her body floating endlessly in the freezing void of space, instead returning her attention to the main console. "No! No no no! He's locking me out!" Red was lighting up her screen and she knew the only thing keeping ODDYSEUS out of her Pip-boy was the excess data he was still deleting.

\ _I can buy you some time, but not for long._ / Vince intoned, his voice softening as he resigned himself to throwing his own consciousness against the steel wall that was the superior A.I.

Ruby felt a glimmer of hope rise in her chest as she saw the Poseidon A.I's advance halted for a moment. Instantly she seized the opportunity to dive into the core programming unrestricted. She flinched though as the air around her became alive with klaxons. A previously dark screen lit up with numbers as ' **5:00.00** ' flashed in a menacing red for a few moments. Then, suddenly, the figure began cycling down as the countdown started.

"Shit." The firing sequence had begun, they didn't have much time. However as Vince did his best to distract ODYSSYEUS, Ruby only found her brow furrowing more and more. "No… this can't be right." The tapping of her fingers on the keys grew in ferocity. "This _can't_ be right!" Before she knew what happened Vince suddenly reeled back from the A.I's counterattack and not moments later she found herself locked completely out of the system.

' **4:37.59** '

She was left clawing at her scalp in frustration as Vince hovered over unsteadily. \ _What now?_ /

' **4:32.63** '

"Now?" She muttered, her voice almost hysterical. "There is no now!" She ground her fists into her temples, mind racing a mile a minute.

' **4:26.89** '

\ _What do you mean?_ / Vince asked, only to get a scowl from the redhead.

' **4:22.56** '

"There's nothing I can do! Literally nothing!" She grabbed a nearby spot welder and threw it across the room with a pained scream. "The countdown was never designed to be stopped!"

' **4:13.11** '

\ _I don't understand…_ / The A.I's avatar looked at the screen in confusion, only seeing the many firewalls ODYSSEUS had placed.

' **4:07.17** '

"Don't you get it?" Ruby groaned. "This satellite was designed for one thing and one thing only; to fire those missiles." She punched the console petulantly. "There isn't a program in the system to abort the launch… there's nothing for me to hack; it's a one-way deal."

' **3:58.27** '

\ _So then…_ / Vince couldn't finish; even his hologram seemed to slump a little at the realisation.

' **3:55.84** '

"That's it. Game over; nobody could design a program able to completely disarm twelve nuclear missiles while simultaneously cancelling their launch, not me, not even you." Her body visibly shuddered as she restrained herself from crying. She would never see Veronica again, never get to explore the world and see all the technology she dreamed off… she probably wouldn't even make it off this satellite. Something told her ODDYSEUS wasn't going to be a gracious winner.

' **3:48.70** '

She looked down at her Pip-boy, a weight settling in her stomach as she regarded the innocuous device. "I should just activate ARCHIMEDES, save Veronica the heartache of doing it herself." She chuckled humourlessly. "I suppose that's a pretty heroic way to go out, huh?" Her hand hovered over the screen, shaking with every breath.

' **3:40.33** '

However she couldn't do it, her hand curled into a fist that she slammed against the console. "Coward!" She screamed, before the energy just sort of… left her. She slumped forward miserably, wrapping herself up in her arms. "This is just so fucking typical." She muttered morosely.

' **3:29.41** '

She glanced up, looking out the window at the half-shadowed earth below. "I suppose there's nothing to do but wait for Veronica to finish this." A strange, hiccoughing laugh escaped her. "At least I'll be able to die right, can't really fuck that up, can I?"

' **3:20.29** '

Vince just regarded her sadly, placing a transparent hand on her shoulder. \ _Life does seem to have a way of throwing up obstacles to block our paths, doesn't it?/_

' **3:14.88** '

The redhead smirked dryly. "You can say that aga…" She paused, a look of wondrous awe passing over her features as she sprang to her feet, nearly tumbling head over heels in the microgravity environment. "Vince you magnificent bastard!" She pulled the hologram into a hug before launching herself back at the console, looking over the scrolling data rapidly.

' **3:06.00** '

\ _What did I do?_ / The machine asked, now even more confused.

' **3:03.98** '

"I'm an idiot!" The engineer cried, rapping her knuckles on her helmet. "I never had to stop the launch itself, just the missiles!"

' **2:58.06** '

\ _I'm afraid I don't follow..._ / The A.I watched curiously as Ruby set a furious pace on the keys.

' **2:53.51** '

"If I can just make sure the bay doors are still closed when the nukes launch, the station will blow itself up. The missiles won't be primed at that point, so no nuclear explosion." She laughed manically, body practically shuddering with adrenaline as she typed away. "All I need to do is make a single tweak to the code, trick ODDYSEUS into thinking that 'closed' is 'open'!" A grin tore its way across her features. "He'll essentially blow the place up himself!"

' **2:33.29** '

The grin was replaced by a scowl as she slammed the screen angrily. "Dammit, I can't get back into the system though. He's locked it down tighter than Maxson's bloody ass." She ground her teeth for a moment as Vince watched on helplessly. "All I need is one opening; one!" Behind her, the slats on Vince's eyebot rose.

' **2:17.82** '

\ _I believe I can help you with that._ / Vince spoke up softly, causing Ruby to scoff and wave a hand dismissively.

"ODYSSEUS won't fall for another data attack like that, you don't have enough junk code for anything that would make any kind of dent." She returned to scrutinising the code, mind whirling, and missed the A.I's avatar smile sadly.

' **2:03.99** '

\ _You only need a few seconds correct?_ / He got an absent nod from the distracted engineer. \ _Then I have plenty of data for that, two hundred years of it in fact._ / Ruby just nodded absently again before starting as Vince's words actually sank in.

' **1:52.07** '

"Vince you can't!" Those were his memories; ODYSSEUS was sure to delete any interfering code with prejudice! The avatar merely smiled, glancing up at the ticking countdown.

' **1:47.48** '

\ _It doesn't seem we have the time to argue._ / The eyebot hovered back over to the console and hooked itself back up. \ _Ruby?_ / The redhead looked at the hologram with wide eyes. \ _Thank you for being my friend_./ And with that the blue figure flickered off as the A.I devoted his entire being into spearing through ODYSSEUS' defences.

' **1:32.52** '

Ruby sniffed, fighting through watery eyes to make sure this sacrifice would not be in vain. She tore through the mainframe, searching for the single line of code she needed to alter. In her periphery she could see Vince's struggle against the behemoth that was the Poseidon A.I as streams of code racing across the screen at blistering paces. Her heart leapt as she found it, making the swift edit just in time, Vince's body suddenly listing heavily as he was forcibly ejected from the system.

' **1:23.67** '

"Vince!" She cried, spinning to look at the machine; thankfully it corrected itself and turned to her.

\ _I… I'm okay._ / His body juddered slightly. \ _There are rather large gaps in my database… but I'm still here for the most part._ / Ruby smiled in relief, only to frown as the klaxons she had been tuning out made their presence known again.

' **1:13.24** '

"We need to get out of here; now!" Vince bobbed on the spot as his holographic-self flickered back into existence, grabbing Ruby's hand. It was an awkward run back through the corridors with the low-gravity environment, but Vince acted as a good tether to keep her moving forward as they rounded the corner to where Ruby remembered the escape pods being. Only one small problem… all they saw was half an airlock leading to the inky black of space.

' **0:47.18** '

"Crap, back to the shuttle!" Ruby shouted as Vince made a one-eighty in the air. What the redhead didn't see in her panic to get back to the ship was the Mister Handy appearing around the corner. She definitely saw the streak of plasma as it flashed toward them though. She wasn't sure what exactly the little green bolt hit in Vince's body, but it must have been something important as the small explosion that followed was enough to send her flying down the adjacent corridor and bang her head off the floor, dazing her.

' **0:33.49** '

She shook her head to get rid of the stars she was seeing, gasping as she saw the A.I's eyebot twitching in the air, rent open and billowing smoke. "Vince!" His hologram, now flickering rather violently as he sought to control his failing systems, waved her off.

\ _Don't worry about me, I'm not really here remember!_ / The blue figure disappeared entirely when the small machine took another plasma bolt, sending it tumbling to the floor.

' **0:21.05** '

She knew it was callous but she didn't have time to look back, she twisted her body and kicked off the floor, hands outstretched for the hatch door to the shuttle. It seemed like an eternity passed as her body hung suspended in the air; she knew the robot would turn the corner at any moment and have a clear shot at her. However just as she heard the whirr of its stabilizers draw closer, her hands wrapped around the cool metal of the docking port.

She hauled herself in and hit the hatch release with a grunt of exertion, sighing with almost hysterical relief as the hiss of pressurisation announced her separation from the station. She pulled herself into the chair, quickly releasing the small spaceship from the docking clamps. The moment she did a strange sense of calm washed over her, silence descending within the shuttle. It was done, she wasn't connected to the satellite… she was safe.

' **0:00.00** '

She didn't hear the explosion that tore through the station, there was no medium to carry the vibrations. It was only when the first piece of shrapnel dented her hull did she even realise something was happening.

By then it was too late; the small craft shuddered as it was rocked by the silent blast and Ruby, who was in the process of strapping herself in, was thrown forward. Her head bounced off the console with the crack of cracking glass and her world went dark without her even realising what happened. If she had still been conscious to think it, she would have said that was a pretty anticlimactic way to go, all things considered.

* * *

The explosion was incredible, a bright blotch that lit up the sky, competing with the setting sun for just a fleeting moment. Heads everywhere turned to look at the curious phenomenon across the Western coast, marvelling at the once-in-a-lifetime sight, but not truly understanding what it was.

No, those that did were letting off a raucous noise as the Repconn test site quickly dissolved into applause and cheering. All the knights, scribes and paladins across the Brotherhood revelled in the auspicious moment.

All save one.

Veronica stared up at the bright patch of white against the reddening sky with glistening eyes, standing a silent vigil over the abandoned communications panel. "Please… Ruby…" She whispered breathlessly, waiting for the console to come alive with the crackle of radio static, for Ruby's exuberant voice to make some quip or attempt at a heroic line. She waited, and listened, and hoped.

But the console stayed silent, as though it were broken. And this time, no spunky little engineer was going to come along and fix it.


	26. Evening the Odds

**Been a while huh? Well, my quest to attain the the rights to all my favourite franchises is still pending, so until then here's the last chapter of a fanfic, for which's intellectual properties I do not own.**

* * *

 _"The writer is the engineer of the human soul."_ – Yury Olesha

* * *

Pain wasn't exactly an unusual sensation for Ruby, especially after being shot point blank in the head. However, when her last memories were of escaping an exploding satellite miles above the surface of the planet, she wasn't really expecting to feel much of anything at all. Still, she could have done without the glaring light needling her eyes like a thousand burning slivers.

Everything was indistinct at first, just a mess of overly-bright shapes, but that became irrelevant when the rest of her senses began to kick in.

"Euurgh." Her entire body felt as though somebody had opened her up, poured everything out and filled her up with sand instead. She was heavy, everything ached and her mouth was painfully dry.

"Waada." She groaned meekly, hoping there would be somebody around to hear her. "Waata!" She called, only to break into a fit of coughs that would have made her curl in on herself from the sudden rippling pain if she could have moved at all. "Som'dee, waata!" She croaked, flailing her limbs with what little mobility they had as she tried to blink away the milky film covering her vision.

Just as she was about to try propping herself up, a cold glass was pressed to her lips and, despite the bout of nausea it brought on, she leaned forward to drink greedily.

When her thirst was at least somewhat quenched, she leaned back with a satisfied sigh, peering up at the vague, dark blotch that had interposed itself over her vision.

"Hey sleepy head, about time you woke up."

The redhead squinted, and sure enough Veronica's distinct features slid into focus, causing a smile to break out over the girl's chapped lips. "'Ronica." The exclamation only served to rouse another bout of coughs from the girl's lips, prompting Veronica to move forward helplessly. The tired smile quickly melted into a concerned grimace as she tittered over the girl, uncertain of what to do.

"How long…" Ruby cleared her throat and fought down another cough "… how long have I been out?" Her body was stiff and unresponsive; but more than that, Veronica bore the signs of a long wait. Her clothes and hair was dishevelled and it looked like she hadn't made the effort to take care of herself much.

The scribe smiled bitterly, before her features softened. "Fifteen days." She glanced off in a direction Ruby's still fuzzy vision couldn't quite make out. "A lot of it was the medication the Brotherhood's been giving you, but you took some serious knocks yourself." The attempt at humour, with a small twinge of a smile, was lost in the stark sadness present in Veronica's eyes.

"What happened?" The redhead tried to sit up, against the protests of her damaged body, but was promptly pushed back down by her concerned friend.

"Don't try to move just yet, really… you've, I mean… when they found you…" The girl trailed off, biting her lip and struggling with something before seeming to come to some solution. "After the satellite was destroyed your rocket was propelled back towards the earth, luckily for you the automated guidance and recovery systems kicked in. They managed to bring you down… somewhat safely in Lake Mead."

Ruby managed a weak grin. "Bet that must have been some sight."

Veronica tried to join the girl in her smile, but once again her eyes didn't quite match the mirth. "We only managed to find you because of the Pip-boy you gave me." The scribe's lips quirked ever so slightly. "You never told me about that feature."

Ruby shrugged as best she was able, looking rightfully sheepish. "We were short on time." She shuffled in bed, looking up at the girl with an inciting grin; this strange pensive Veronica was weirding her out. "Better gift than a dress then?"

This time Veronica's smile seemed a whole lot more genuine; that was good, she'd just survived re-entry after all. This was a time for celebration, not moping.

"Much better than a dress."

Ruby's grin only widened as she moved to prop herself up with her right arm, only to kind of squirm awkwardly. She chuckled to herself for how stupid she must look; the drugs must have been more powerful than she thought. She could barely even feel her arm.

However when she looked up all traces of humour had been wiped from Veronica's face, replaced with abject guilt. "'Ronica?" Her voice seemed very small all of a sudden.

"Ruby I-I'm…" The scribe gulped, shaking slightly as she shifted from her perch on the bed and taking to wring her hands. "When they… I mean, it was already… I-I think there was nothing… I wish that… If I'd been faster or…"

Her friend was making no sense and her mutterings were becoming increasingly incoherent; the scribe wouldn't even meet her gaze anymore. "Veronica, what is it?"

It seemed the use of her full name was enough to finally snap the girl from her hysterics, only for her to turn to the redhead, tears welling in her eyes. "Ruby… I'm so sorry. When they found you it was already too late." She gulped and seemed to reaffirm herself for a moment. "Your arm…" Ruby felt a knot of dread coil in her stomach as Veronica gripped the edge of the bedsheet. "It…It's better if you see for yourself." She pulled it back slowly and for a moment the entire world seemed to slow to a crawl.

Uncomprehendingly the young engineer stared at her arm, or what was left of it. Everything below the elbow was just… gone. Bandages wrapped around the pathetic stump of her limb, only serving to exacerbate the obvious loss. She moved her arm slightly, nearly convulsing in disgust as the cleaved limb waggled in time with her motions. The phantom sensations of her fingers moving only seemed to insult her further as she vaguely heard Veronica talking in her periphery.

"…the crash, one of the coolant pipes burst and, well, you were unconscious so, I mean, when they found you it was already… they did everything they could I swear, but the bio-gel treatment wasn't taking and… the flesh, it was becoming necrotic and… blood clots… you would have died! They had no other choice and… I… I'm so sorry and… and… Ruby?"

The redhead flinched at her name, realising she hadn't said anything for what was probably a good few seconds. She looked up somewhat stiffly to see tears steadily streaming down Veronica's face. Instinctively she reached out to wipe them away only for that vile… thing that remained of her arm to interpose itself into her vision. This time she _was_ sick, slumping pathetically over the edge of the bed and retching violently, despite her stomach having nothing to give.

The burn in her throat was mercifully distracting and for a moment she simply focused on that; anything to not have to think about… it. When she finally lifted herself up with some help from the scribe, a somewhat hysterical laugh was shaking her body. She just stayed like that for a while, looking up at the featureless ceiling and laughing uncontrollably as Veronica looked on with worry.

"I suppose…" she mused, as she finally ran out of laughs, instead staring forward bitterly "… an arm is a small price to pay for living through re-entry." Even as she spoke though her other hand was curling into a tight fist, fingernails digging into her palm. It was almost as if… if she squeezed hard enough, then she could almost feel the phantom pain in her missing hand.

She stopped as, out of her periphery, she noticed Veronica again. The girl was looking at her with such pity in her eyes it was almost unbearable. The palpable feeling of guilt was practically rolling off the young scribe in waves and Ruby knew that as much as she was suffering here, Veronica was blaming herself for every moment.

A snide, vicious voice in the back of her mind told her it was a good thing, that it _was_ Veronica's fault. She quashed it immediately though; this whole affair, from ODYSSEUS to her arm, was entirely her own fault. Her own bitter words came around to gnaw at her thoughts; a single arm may not have been a fair price… but it was a fair reminder of her own stupidity.

Eventually she just sort of… let it go. Sinking back into the hospital bed with a sigh. With that long exhale a rush of vitriol and anger seemed to simply vent out of her, leaving her oddly light. A strange, musing smile passed over her lips she would later attribute to the Med-X. "Prosthetics technology was pretty advanced before the war..." She intoned awkwardly, earning a confused look from Veronica as the redhead turned to look at her friend. "It can't be that hard to build an arm… right?"

Veronica simply blinked at her, before a weak and watery smile mirrored Ruby's. "You… You're just incorrigible, aren't you?"

The redhead's smile grew; this is what she would have missed, dying up there in the cold vacuum of space. Yeah… an arm was worth moments like these. "I try."

The warm moment was rather spectacularly ruined as red suddenly shot across Veronica's cheeks, her warm smile being replaced by a look of distraught worry. "Ah, ah, about that um… before you left we ah, I mean… the kiss."

Ruby quirked an amused eyebrow at the girl as she continued to stutter. Really; that was what was going through her mind right now?

"I uh, I understand if, you know, it was just a… heat of the moment and… adrenaline and, if it didn't actually-"

The scribe was promptly cut off as Ruby used her good arm to grab the front of her shirt and pull her down into a heated, searing kiss. It amused the less experienced girl to no end that she managed to finally shut the scribe up, the brunette freezing at the contact. However soon enough the two sank gratefully into the familiar embrace, choosing to enjoy the moment without words.

"Ahem."

Instead of immediately shooting back with a searing blush like she might have done not even a week ago, Ruby simply shifted back from Veronica, glaring over her shoulder at the man who had deigned to interrupt the moment.

Veronica was not quite as composed. "High Elder Maxson!" She immediately bowed, unsubtly trying to smooth out the creases in her bedraggled clothes.

"Stand up, I'm not here for formalities." The old man grouched irritably, moving further into the room to stare contemplatively at the bedridden engineer. Ruby tried her best to meet the man's gaze, but wilted under those steely eyes. "You know, it's somewhat irksome that you survived; everything would have been tied up rather neatly had you simply died up there."

The redhead balked at the ruthlessly blunt words before recollecting herself with an acidic glare. "Sorry to disappoint you."

Maxson just sniffed, continuing as if he hadn't heard her. "Now I'm left with the awkward job of deciding just what to do with you." He left the insinuation hanging in the air for a tense few moments before shrugging airily. "In the end I decided it would be too much paperwork; everything was sorted out, we were able to capture two high value installations as well as weaken the super mutant presence in the region."

The redhead let out a silent breath of relief, at least until the Elder turned his attention on Veronica. "Scribe Santangelo on the other hand…" Ruby's fist balled up under the bedcovers as that speculative gaze turned on her friend. "Your conduct was unbecoming of a member of the Brotherhood. Dereliction of duty, irresponsible tampering of unknown technologies; not to mention… fraternisation."

With each listed offence Veronica flinched, eyes trained miserably on the ground, almost as though she had been expecting this all along. Ruby could only watch helplessly; even with her blood boiling she knew anything she said would only make things worse.

"I have withheld on my verdict up to this point, in respect for your… friend's condition." He glanced at Ruby with an indecipherable expression. "But now is as good a time as any." He cracked his neck. "Normally your offences would be grounds for execution-"

"Hey!"

Ruby only managed the single syllable before she was fixed with a burning stare from the High Elder that froze her in place.

" _Normally_ they would be grounds for execution; the Brotherhood has no need for insubordination within its ranks." He continued to stare at Ruby as he spoke, only to turn back to the scribe. "However…" Veronica's head lifted slightly, hope glittering in her watery eyes "…In light of extenuating circumstances…" he glanced at Ruby again "…I have decided your offenses were mostly made out of ignorance, rather than malicious intent."

"So she's not in trouble right?" Ruby questioned immediately; she couldn't live with herself if her own foolishness got Veronica hurt.

"I never said that." Maxson growled, his irritation at the constant interruptions showing. "Journeyman Scribe Santangelo, from this moment forward you are exiled from the Brotherhood of Steel."

A deathly silence descended on the small room as the two girls were left with a moment to process that. Veronica actually looked shell-shocked, her eyes going wide as she sank back onto the bed with a shaking hand to steady her.

Maxson used the lull to nod curtly. "Under your exile you are free to do as you please outside the confines of Brotherhood installations; of course sharing sensitive information is strictly forbidden." His gaze became deadly serious. "We _will_ find out." Seeing that both girls either understood or were too shocked to interrupt he continued. "Do not cross the Brotherhood again _Miss_ Santangelo; it would be… inadvisable."

And with that he strode from the room, as though he had merely delivered news of the weather, instead of life-changing ultimatums. The two girls were left in silence once again for a good few moments before Ruby tentatively reaching out to place her hand over Veronica's.

"'Ronica…"

The former scribe flinched slightly but didn't retreat from the contact, instead curling her fingers around the offered hand. "I… I don't even know what to say." Ruby merely stayed silent, allowing her friend to process and resolve her thoughts on her own. "I've lived in the Brotherhood all my life, it's all I've ever known. They're… they're my family." She slumped forward slightly and the redhead knew if she didn't do something her feelings were only going to spiral.

"Well…" She started, somewhat awkwardly. "I know it might be a little soon but ah, in light of certain… disabilities, I suddenly find myself in need of a travelling companion."

Veronica's head lifted ever so subtly.

"If it's not too much of an imposition and, ah, of course only if you want to, I would love it if…" She trailed off as Veronica looked up, tears slowly rolling down her cheeks but a small, flickering smile pulling at her cheeks.

"You're too good for me Ruby." She sniffed, wiping at her cheeks furiously until only her reddened eyes remained. "I'd love to come with you." She chuckled somewhat bitterly. "I suppose I have nothing else to do now."

The engineer forced a smile onto her face that she didn't quite feel; it seemed they had both lost something important to them today. "They don't know what they're missing without you." Her smile grew more genuine as Veronica met her eyes. "When they see us, sitting on a pile of liberated technology and casino winnings, they'll beg for you to come back." Her smile flickered slightly. "I suppose the only thing left to do is to decide where we go from here."

Veronica caught the slight glance the redhead gave to her stub of an arm. "Well… I remember hearing rumours of some kind of cybernetics specialist in the mountains?" She offered lamely; although an unsubstantiated rumour was better than nothing.

Ruby chuckled. "Sounds almost too good to be true; so I suppose it's perfect for us." She raised her good arm out to her friend… no, the woman she loved. "Ready for the next big adventure?"

Veronica smiled right back as she clasped the hand firmly and pulled the girl closer. "Always."

Yeah; they may have both lost something important that day, but as long as they had each other, there was always something to fill the gaps.


End file.
